Asking For a Life
by EpicStickFigure
Summary: Being you're average person, reborn into a world full of anthropomorphic animals, and as the older brother of Nick Wilde. Life was going to bumpy no matter what I did. Between balancing: maintaining my identity, trying not to doom Zootopia, and create a happy ending, I'm sure in for quite the adventure.
1. Asking For A Life

Do you want to hear a story?

Well, you clicked on this link, so you are expecting a story, so stupid question.

Wow, I am off to a great start. Two pats on the back for me!

On another note, I could spout nonsense, like "Buckle up, because you just joined in on one hell of a ride," or "Get comfortable, because this is going to take a while," or some other nice and exciting intro, but I won't. Or maybe I will, I honestly don't know, I might actually say something like that, I tend to forget what I am saying.

ANYWAY! I could go into my past, who I am and that spiel, but in actuality there are about two things you should know about me. 1. I was human, might not seem that important, but you will see why I am saying this. And 2. I died.

Yes, died. As in bye bye. Not here anymore. Corpse rotting in the ground. I think you get the point. Wow, that actually got dark really fast.

If you were in any way like me, you didn't really know what happened when death came. You just waited for it to happen, and buckled up for the ride that might happen. From going to heaven, hell, or uh, being reincarnated.

AND ON THE NOTE OF BEING REINCARNATED!

There are many ways I could say this. But I'll just go with the simple. I was reincarnated. Not into a grasshopper, slice of grass, or ant. No, but I was reincarnated into a movie. And no, I was not made into a movie, I was reincarnated into a character inside a movie.

Figure, it is in infinite loop. You die only to be reborn. Quite ironic isn't it.

Anyway said movie was Zootopia.

Wow, I thought that would be harder to say.

Aaaaaaaaaaanyway. Out of the hundreds or maybe thousands upon thousands of movies there were I got reincarnated into this one? Well, it could be worse. Could have been something like Alien, or 28 Days Later. Or some other hell hole to live in. So I am rather contempt with what I got.

So. Back to the point. You know how I said one thing you should know was how I was a human. Emphasis on 'was'. Because, well, I am no longer one. I was reincarnated into a fox. And not your average fox, that hunts animals and looks cute, but one of those ones that stand on two legs and wears clothes. I wonder where in evolution this happened?

Now if you actually believe what I am saying, and believe me I had a hard time believing it for a while then continue reading, if not, I don't blame you.

So, uh, what next? God, I should have made some script or something.

Uhh. Oh yeah! So yes, I was reincarnated into a fox, and it could have been ANY SINGLE ONE GOD DAMN ONE, but noooooo. That would be too simple. They had to throw a curveball. My name is Elijah Wilde. Older brother of Nick Wilde. Son of Evan and Nancy Wilde.

Let me repeat that, Older brother of Nick Wilde. As in the one of the main characters from Zootopia. Meaning if I messed up, I could in theory remove him from the story completely, which could possibly cause the 'bad guys' to win.

Not to mention, if you saw the movie you would know how Elijah Wilde never actually existed.

So I am a person in a world where I am not supposed to exist. Yet I still do.

See my problem?

The source of my headache of a life could have started when my consciousness was first created, back in my original life, but that could be a story of its own. Although it would be quite a boring one. And things really started to get interesting when I was reincarnated. So that is where I will start.

I would like to think that I was a good child, but is kinda hard putting on the fake child business. So chances are I probably wasn't the best kid. Surprised they decided to have another child, maybe he was bound to be born. I suppose he was better than me though. Since Nick was the most goddamn perfect and happy child you have ever seen.

Suck up.

I mean, you can't blame me for being that bad. I went through my first year of my life wavering between utter boredom and fits of absolute horror. And it wasn't until when I just passed my first birthday when I finally was able to master my tiny, unnaturally furry body and use my unusually large ears to understand what my new mother was cooing towards me.

Elijah Wilde.

Wilde

As in the same name as Nick Wilde.

Nick Wilde from Zootopia.

As in, _Oh lord, what the hell is happening?_

* * *

 **AN:**

 **So hello! First things first, I would really like to thank you for spending your day to read my story. It actually means a lot to me.**

 **This isn't actually my first story, I tried writing another one before hand. And I didn't really like the premise so I just deleted that story.**

 **Anyway I'm not sure if I will continue this one. I do like this premise a lot more. And maybe the 2 people that will see this story will inspire me to continue.**


	2. Asking For A Younger Brother

**(AN. The previous chapter was my character looking back, from the future, from now on it is going to be in first person and progress with the storyline)**

So I was an anthropomorphic fox, in a world where you have rodents and rhinos living in the same city.

I mean it could have been worse. There are a lot of worse things that could have happened.

Then I am in a world where racism is extremely prevalent, not to mention discrimination… and other things. Maybe it isn't the best to dwell on the future right now.

Still, I got really lucky, every person here speaks English, my new body isn't quite as different as my previous one, compared to other animals, allowing me to master it relatively quickly. Still there are some biological differences that seem to clash in a way. The way in which my instincts as a human don't quite agree with the ones I was given, creating some quite awkward circumstances sometimes. Which 9 times out of 10 leaves me looking like an idiot.

I must have struck my parents as a very strange child. I rarely really talked, and when I did it was generally asking questions. About history, politics, current events, architecture, that sort of stuff. My new mom just kinda pushed it off saying I have a naturally inquisitive mind, which really isn't that far off. She has actually gone as far as to call me a genius, considering I was talking by the time most children just learnt to walk. Of course, being the modest and responsible person I am, I floundered that off.

Maybe I am going just a bit too fast.

Still Mom (Nancy Wilde) does love me a lot, and considering to my old mom… who uh, let's say had a hard time expressing love sometimes, my new mom is great. We are that kind of family that even though we aren't the best off, we are still happy. That kind you see in TV shows that makes you have overly idyllic views of the world which I personally hate.

Well almost like that.

We have dad on the other hand. I'm still not sure if he has a hard time expressing love or if he just doesn't care about me. I mean he does earn money for the family so I can't be angry at him that much, but most of the time he is just gone. Most dinners are just mom and I sitting at the dinner table, and with the off chance that he is here most of the time we just eat in silence, which is great for helping a kid learn social skills. 10 brownie points for him!

Still being a kid again is so much more relaxing. I don't have to worry about grades, maintaining my social life, the future. At the moment I am just free to relax. At least until I get off my lazy ass and start thinking about the effects I could have on the future.

After about a year of screaming silently of boredom and insanity I developed a daily routine. Awake, eat, hang out with mom, read or something, eat again, then sleep, mingling being lazy in between all that. Pretty simple, but it gets the work done. Still mom is quite concerned considering the fact that a 5 year old is reading about the a book going over the history of Zootopia's spaceflight, when other kids are reading Danny the Dinosaur.

I've read Danny the Dinosaur, of course it is your average children's book with some hidden meaning in the end that are trying to teach kids to be good. It is those books that also makes me want to kill myself. Quite the read.

Still the book I am reading is quite interesting. They do have different names for each one of the planets, due to how they are named after ancient gods. But after reading over them and examining them, I realized they are the same. Of course the Earthen continents do line up. And after doing a bit of Zoogling (Hehe) I found out that Zootopia is smack dab right in the middle of Continental Europe. America has been found, there were successful attempts at colonizing it apparently. And it was eventually allowed to be its own governing society.

The governmenting system is slightly different compared to ours, each country, does have their own independent government, however there is one hierarchy above each independent government called The Collective that makes decisions for animals as a whole. At first I was kind of skeptical about how trustworthy it is, but the more I read up on it the more it seemed to make sense. Here are reasons why it works: war is nonexistant, you might have noticed how the police officers have no lethal weapons, that is because death is at an all time low. There are absolutely no tensions between countries. The Collective has to be one of the most careful organizations out there, there is none and will never be corruption in it. Being part of The Collective immortalizes you in history.

Still no signs of human though. I mean, if they were here there would at least be ruins. Still no ruins, nothing.

Eh, this isn't my problem.

Still despite my quite well planned out procedure, I was not prepared for the destabilization Nick would cause.

* * *

Age 5

I stared at Nick who lies serenely in the crib. Well as serene as a baby can, babbling innocently with stars in his eyes. A crib toy plays above him, the same one that was used for me, playing a gentle lullaby in the process.

I have no idea what I am doing here.

Mom is busy making food, dad is out doing something. I didn't really have anything to do, so here I am staring at Nick, because why not.

I'm also VERY stressed out.

"You know what? I'm supposed to be the older brother to you," I say although I know he doesn't understand, "believe me, I want to be the best older brother I can be to you. I don't really know what I can do though to help," I pause for a bit, "If you somehow by a miracle understand me, let me tell you that you will be very important in the future. And believe me, I want you to be, you deserve to live in fame and glory. I'm just afraid I'll mess things up. Things end up happy for you, nothing really goes wrong, and for me that doesn't really feel the best. Almost like I really have no purpose, and it is scary, almost like the world is bearing over me and laughing at my attempts to change something. "

I pause for a bit sitting down on a chair, swinging my legs in the air, "I don't know what I am doing talking to you. You don't understand me," I continue, "I'll just shut up now."

I must be going insane. Talking to a baby, isn't the first signs of insanity something along this? I wouldn't be surprised. I just feel at a loss of what to do. I feel like I should prepare for something, but at the same time there is nothing to prepare for. It just feels… overwhelming, in a way.

I stare at Nick a bit more who has seemed to have found an interest in my face, as he is reaching out to touch. He still has only been here a couple days so far, making this still quite new for me. I never had any sibling in my previous life.

He just had to be the cutest goddamn ball of fluff with his unkempt hair and beady little insect eyes.

I hold out my finger which he grabs. He lets out a happy laugh while shaking it in the process. I smile at that. Something about this, just feels right.

As I said I never had any siblings in my previous life. The closest thing I had was my younger cousin Alex who I rarely ever saw.

So as I stand here with a baby fox pulling my finger, which for some reason is way too amusing, I feel happy in a way. It's one of those feelings I don't want to end.

But eventually he does get bored and let's go of it, and goes back to babbling at nothing, leaving me with nothing to do.

Now what do I do. I was so caught up in the adventures of doing almost nothing (quite the activity) that I didn't really have anything else planned for afterwards. Not to mention how I think my brain also melted from watching Nick.

It's a minor problem, you know, brain melting, it happens every Tuesday.

Dear god, I am bored.

Screw it, I'm going to the kitchen.

Because all epic stories start in the kitchen.

I walk out of the room, shutting it behind me. Oh! Fun fact, foxes have only 4 fingers. Well at least the ones I am. That was very interesting to adapt to. Because for so long I was used to 5 fingers that just having 4 threw my life out of whack for a very long time. I think mom actually got concerned for a while because I would sit by myself moving each individual finger slowly trying to get the hang of using them, for hours on a time.

I'm completely sane, don't worry.

I walked into the kitchen where mom was making food, "Hello," I said softly.

She turns around from the stove and smiles saying, "Hello! Did you say 'hi' to Nick?"

"Yeah."

"What did you think of him?"

"... He's cute," I say stopping in my tracks. For some reason that really threw me for a loop.

She let's out a soft laugh, "So were you. I still remember when you were his age. You were such a sweetheart, you barely cried and you were so helpful."

My ears flatten along my head. As I tried to hide my smile.

Not again!

First thing I noticed, I have many natural instincts as a fox like flattening my ears. Apparently it is really cute, when I do things like this. I quickly took advantage of that and now I'm guilty of using this to my advantage more than I count, apparently while most other people won't trust foxes they will melt at the sight of me. We have deadly good puppy dog eyes, and face, and ears… and everything else.

Perfect strategy, they will never expect a deadly assassin to be a cute fox kid. All part of my maniacal plan.

I only need to master my evil laugh.

Mom lets out another chuckle at my ears, before saying, "Why don't you sit at the table while I get Nick."

"Okay," I say my ears returning to normal eventually at my behest. As I climb upon the chair and swing my legs off of it shaking my body slightly, releasing pent up energy. By the smell apparently mom is making fish.

Since most animals have evolved, killing them for meat would be murder… and feel really weird eating them, knowing they were people, however fish seemed to miss out of this evolution fiasco, making them a good source for protein. Though they are slightly expensive as there are many Fish Rights Activists trying to get people to stop killing fish.

Figures, there are probably rights activists for about anything.

So having fish is generally a special occasion.

... And in the middle of my thoughts I start getting a headache. Great. I'm probably just dehydrated, you tend to get side tracked when you are trying to make plans on not messing up the future and possibly irreverably damaging society.

I'm just your average 5 year old.

So I go the fridge and grab a glass of water before going back to the table and drinking it.

Took me a while to get used to the snout for eating and drinking. It's a long story full of screaming, messes, and pain.

Although it is cool having sharp teeth though, nice for intimidation. Also gives you hella cool smiles.

Mom (still sounds weird saying that) walks back inside carrying Nick in her arms, he lets out a gleeful laugh as she bounces him slightly. I can't help but smile at that. That cute little fluffball.

"Why don't you hold him," mom says out of nowhere.

My smile disappeared faster than if you say 'Let It Goat.'

"Uhhhhhh," I managed to sputter out, blinking rapidly.

This is not a good idea. What if I drop him? What if I hurt him? For god's sake, I can barely hold a iron pot without mom freaking over me. Why the hell would she trust me with Nick?

But what's the worst that could happen though?

...

Spontaneous combustion?

Yep, I'm not holding him.

Apparently mom didn't see my hesitation or just didn't care as she just placed Nick in my arms.

It takes me a full second for my mind to reactivate. And even then all I can think is 'he's heavier than I thought'.

I then open my mouth in protest at holding him, but it all dies in my throat as I stare at Nick. Apparently he had the exact same idea as he just stares straight back, barely moving a muscle. This feels exactly like a Mexican standoff.

I sit in my mind trying to imagine a Mexican Standoff with foxes.

It doesn't get that far.

AGH! GOD DAMN IT!

He had grabbed my goddamn nose, which mind you is very sensitive, and decided that it was his perfect target for his little hellfire nails.

Apparently he found that very amusing as he giggles in the process. Little bastard. Attacking me when I let my guard down.

Mom just lets out a laugh and grabs Nick from my arms leaving me to glare at him, which mom seems to just find more amusing, "he likes you," she says.

Fine then. This. Is. War.

* * *

I started school. Wooo!

If you can't tell that was supposed to be sarcastic.

It's not really that it's boring, which it is. It's more the fact that I'm learning basic math when I know trigonometry and logarithms. So most of my school day is just sitting around and look like I am paying attention, which mind you, I am quite good at.

My reasoning is that if I don't appear out of place, no one will bother me.

I could possibly try to skip several years of school, but considering how I am going to a public school, and how I am a fox, it would make me a prime target for bullying from the older kids.

Still I never thought I would see the day in which a kindergartener is larger than most adults. And by this I mean an elephant.

He literally doesn't have a desk because he would break it. I actually feel slightly sorry for the teacher.

Not to mention how this isn't a classroom full of humans. This is a classroom full of many different species, of different sizes, shapes, and other characteristics. It is actually very interesting, and quite hard to explain the experience. Almost like being in a class full of aliens.

Still I've already made enemies with this other kid though. I didn't really plan for it to happen, he just took an immediate dislike towards me, and ignoring him only infuriated him more.

...So did laughing at him when he got really upset.

Coincidentally he is a sheep, just like Bellwether. His name is something like Wilson or something like that, couldn't really care less about him. His weaponry at the moment just seem to consist of glaring at me.

At the moment I have other worries.

* * *

So, uh. Dad has been gone for an entire week.

Mom says he is just busy, and will be gone for a while.

I know that he isn't coming back.

Last Thursday at about 9 P.M. they got in a fight. It quickly escalated, until I, playing the innocent child, broke it up. I still heard enough though. He couldn't take the responsibility of taking care of Nick and I. He didn't want to continue paying for us, and just walked out of the house.

Nick still isn't old enough to realize what is happening. Thank God.

I've been trying to help around the house, make my Mom's life easier, as you could definitely see stress start to build up on her. For god's sake she only gets a couple of hours of sleep each night. Still she's gotten a job to pay for us. I mean, it's so nice that she cares, but I'm really concerned for her.

Considering that she is a fox, coupled with the fact that she is just female, and has two kids, she wasn't able to get the best job, and even then she isn't paid the best.

You know what, I'm not really in the mood to do this right now. I'll, uh, continue this when I can.

* * *

 **And done! I did not expect all the attention this got. Like wow! Thanks guys, it really means alot. I know how a lot of people say stuff like that, so I don't really know how to really express how thankful I am.**

 **I want to give even more thanks to 15delgizzij. 1. For being the first person to review my story. 2. For giving me ideas on how the story can go. And 3. For having the same favorite book as me. (The Martian)**

 **Now, I would thank everybody else who reviewed, followed, and favorited, but that would take up too much word count, and I don't want to make this longer than it has to be.**

 **This chapter is a lot of exposition, so I'm expecting it to be pretty boring, so sorry about that. Also for some reason it feels as if it is really bad, so sorry about that. If you do find anything to be bad, please message me.**

 **I do want to include you guys though so I am going to ask you guys a question. What did you enjoy most about Zootopia? If that is too hard, what is your favorite movie?**


	3. Asking For Social Acceptance

Age 11

"Hey Nick, what's up?" I say walking up to Nick in a casual stride with an apparent swagger in my walk.

"Eli!" He says running over.

I give him a quick hug, before saying, "Mom is at work as usual, so she asked me to pick you up."

To take care of us she generally has to work pretty late generally causing me to have to pick Nick up from school.

He frowned, "When's Mom going to be home tonight?"

"Around 9," I say, but at seeing his face droop I say, "But we can say 'hi' to her at work if you want?"

"Yeah!" He says already ready to charge off.

"Are you sure? Aren't you afraid of the big bad city?" I say jumping, pretending to grab him.

He squeals before starting to run off. I drop my backpack as I go off to chase him enjoying the idea of bonding with Nick.

I really do love him.

After a couple of minutes of letting him get away I eventually catch up to him… and proceed to tickle him as Mom does quite often. Turns out he is quite ticklish. Another weapon for the armory.

Apparently he has been quite lonely at school. His teacher had pulled me to the side and told me this one day when I was picking him up.

I stand up as he continues squirming on the ground choking on his laughter. It takes him a few seconds for him to gain his breath again.

I have been trying to make him happier recently. At least he really isn't old enough to truly realise how alone he is.

He gets taking deep breaths still giggling slightly, however at the same time wary as I hand him his backpack, glaring at me in his cute little way.

He is just the happiest bundle of fur I have ever seen. It helps quite a bit that he is the only happy bundle of fur I have ever seen.

I'm not sure if I want that to ever change.

"So… Are you sure you are ready? You didn't seem that well prepared," I say with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you kidding? I'm Nick Wilde! What can't I handle?"

"The tickle monster, broccoli, me, and that girl you like at school to name a few."

He starts pouting, his ears drooping, face angled to the ground, arms crossed, looking more cute than anything else. He has a long way to go till he masters the art of pouting.

"I'm just kidding, let's go." I say waving him along with a hand.

That little cheeky devil became infinitely better once he stopped grabbing my nose.

* * *

I walk into the restaurant, a soft chime announcing our presence, with Nick close to my side, while holding my hand. The goat behind the counter quickly recognizes me as we are frequent visitors here.

"Hey Elijah! Are you here to see Nancy?"

"Yeah, is she on break?" I ask despite already knowing the answer.

"Yes, she just got on break. I'll get her. Why don't you sit at a table in the meantime?" She says gesturing to a table before walking off.

"Thanks," I tell her, with a nod as she walks off to get mom.

I lead Nick to the table who hops onto the chair as I sit next to him. Mom got a job at the equivalent of a Japanese Restaurant, in the way that this restaurant specializes in fish, in a similar way to sushi. She generally works here pretty late trying to earn money for us, from what I've heard her boss is better compared to the other bosses around the area. She actually quit her original job, as her boss, and excuse my language, was a dick. Funny part was how he later contacted her asking her to come back, unsurprisingly she said 'no'. I think she is the best person I've ever seen at being passive-aggressive.

I've noticed that she is terrifying when she is yelling and angry, but she can generally be even worse when she seems completely calm.

"Mom!" I hear Nick yell as he barrels out of the chair. A couple other people at the surrounding tables look at us and I give them a 'sorry' smile complete with a shrug of the shoulders.

I'm not actually that sorry.

I walk out of the chair and over to mom who gives me a quick hug once she finishes her extended Nick. At first I was worried with Mom working so much that Nick wouldn't love her as much, but it turns out I was wrong as he loves her just as much no matter what happens. Maybe I'm slightly too paranoid sometimes.

"Why don't we head outside before we talk. Okay?" She says mostly asking Nick. She already knows my answer.

Nick gives a joyful, "Okay!" while I just give two thumbs up with a smile.

We walk outside, mom signaling to someone in the restaurant what we are doing.

Mom gets on her knees, dusts her clothes before asking Nick, "So Nick, how was school today?"

"Great! I made some new friends!"

"Really? Well why don't you tell me about them?"

"They are so cool! One guy's dad works for the ZPD! He says that he is the toughest guy in all of Zootopia!"

"That's really nice. What about you Elijah?"

"You know it is going to be the exact same answer to that question as I answer every single time. 'Good'." I say flashing my hands for dramatic effect.

Good ol' me and my sarcasm.

Mom let's out a short laugh, "I think I can tell how you are by how you say 'good'."

I feign defeat, "Oh no! I've been found, oh woe is me! Oh the horror! Oh the animality ( **Humanity)**!" Pause for dramatic effect, " And scene." I say doing an exaggerated bow.

Mom lets out a short laugh, clapping a bit, before going back to talking with Nick knowing I am fine.

I rest against a nearby well crossing my arms, trying (and probably failing) to look tough, while watching mom and Nick interact with a smile.

You know what, I've made my decision concerning Nick. I don't care how much I change, I am going to do whatever I can to make him happy. If that means I personally have to get Nick and Judy together I'll do it.

I grin.

Life feels really good right now.

* * *

Age 12

Okay, life feels absolutely horrible right now.

If you thought school was boring before, you were sorely wrong. You at least had the opportunity to learn something. For me, it really isn't that easy, I already know everything. Not to mention how all these kids are as intelligent as a brick wall. Several times I would go to sleep in the class, only to wake up later and be the only person who was able to answer the question. Not to brag or anything.

Not to mention how they split kids based on size now that the size difference is becoming too large, taking my few friends. And by friends I mean people I could stand, and who I would generally hang out with. They should be honored.

So most of the classes I just have to sit around and look like I am paying attention. Teachers don't seem to like that. Surprise! I'm starting to think that some of them just have it out for me.

If a teacher doesn't care, either because they don't want to, or because I have perfect grades then they just let me do what I want, most of the time it is sleeping through the entire class or reading some book over some esoteric math or science concept.

Naturally they became my favorite teachers.

Still my consensus of the rest of the school? Kill me now. You have the kids who try to act cool, and look like morons in the process (FART JOKES AREN'T FUNNY), or the kids who are as useful as an eggplant in a social situation. I fit in that neat, barren area right smack dab in the middle called the Gray Zone. It's quite lonely here. It has an outstanding population of 1. Comprised of me, myself, and I.

Partly because I don't have the best name right now.

About 2 years ago I started learning magic tricks again, and I thought that I might as well swindle some money out of other kids to help around the house. It worked for a while, I got a couple hundred dollars out of it, and things were nice for a while. You wouldn't believe how gullible these kids are. However eventually a kid called me out when I got $7 from him. I did the innocent act, which he severely hated, and eventually we got in a fight. A teacher broke it up and sent us to the principal's office.

Long story short, I had to tell the principle that my parents won't be able to make it. So he let us go, telling the other kid to stop getting in fights (This wasn't his first) and for me to stop doing the tricks. However said kid didn't stop there as he spread rumors calling me a 'Dirty Cheating Fox' which eventually caught on.

People don't really want to associate with me at the moment, unless it is mocking and/or teasing.

Life could be worse. I mean school is pretty low in my priority chart and most of the kids here I couldn't care less about. You could literally make a quarter of the kids disappear and I wouldn't notice.

However...

The school bell rings shaking me out of my thoughts. I stop twiddling a pencil in my fingers and put my stuff into my backpack before walking out of the classroom, brushing past the occasional student.

I walk past the endless monotony of lockers and students, some occasionally giving me a side glance, sometimes completed with a glare. Generally my plan is just to blend into the other students now.

I run my hand over my face once out of tiredness.

I bump past a kid and he twists around saying, "watch where you are going fox."

I twist my head to see who it is. Oh it is this Wilson kid. Turns out his name is Woolson. Besides that I don't really know anything else about him because honestly I don't really care.

In case you haven't noticed I don't really care about school at all.

Plot twist I am Bogo, or Bono… Bolo, Boro, Boto, Bojo. Whatever that police officer guy's name is. He actually isn't in the police force yet. I think… Yeah. He isn't here.

Either way, I twist my head back around facing forward not in the mood even to respond. I hear him say something in protest but I just block him out and continue walking to my next class. I think he just gives up, or thought he won the argument, as his voice dies out in the background.

Or he may have died. No! Bad thoughts!

You know what? I just want school to be over.

* * *

So apparently Nick has to stay at school for another hour. Something about a little club. I've already checked it isn't the Junior Ranger Scouts, so for all I know he is fine. The only problem is that since I have to wait for an hour if I were to travel home, by the time I would get home I would immediately have to come back.

So here I am sitting outside on a bench reading a book over the introductions to calculus. It's interesting enough, but considering I don't really have anyone to help me or any foundation this is going to be very slow. And tedious, and boring.

I thought I might as well catch up in my courses if I'm not learning much in school anyway.

Never fear! As if you were ever to jump off a building I could calculate how long it would take for you to die.

Useful information.

Still I can't help myself from drifting off and daydreaming causing me to have to reread the same section over and over again.

I hear footsteps ahead of me and I ignore them. Something I had learned is that generally if you ignore them they will ignore you.

Apparently it didn't work today.

When the footsteps stop I look up from my book. Woolson and his friends are standing there trying to look tough. Oh boy. "I don't suppose you would leave if I ask you nicely," I say.

They don't respond.

I mark the page I was on and put the book in my backpack. I then lean against the back of the bench, resting my arms on the backrest while crossing my legs. "So you obviously want to talk, talk."

"Listen you..." He starts before I interrupt him.

"I can already tell you haven't done this before. Now protect the little dignity you have and put aside the grudges you have against me and let me read my book, because you aren't going to elicit any reaction from me you are expecting."

I wait for his response.

He responds by hitting me in the chest.

Should've seen that coming.

Now quick lesson, have you ever noticed how when you get older pain seems to hurt less, and influence you differently. Well luckily I carried that over. Still it conflicts with natural instincts that you get for being a kid.

So I double over and gag instinctively and bite back the tears that come.

I try getting back up, feeling slightly off but a foot hits me in the chest knocking me over and onto my back.

Fun fact: Hooves hurt a lot more than your average foot. Like a hella more. Like a, dipped in acid and wrapped with barb wire, hurts.

I lie on my back breathing heavily, tears fight their way out as I try to keep them in.

Don't show any weakness.

Still I can't help the feeling of fear grip my heart.

I try getting up again but as I'm about to stand up one of Woolson's friends pushes me over and onto my back again.

Now this is getting annoying, and by annoying I mean infuriating. So, I fail to bite back the instinctive growl that breaks through.

"Oh look, he's angry," I hear Woolson say while laughing with his friends.

Since getting up doesn't seem to work that well, I try moving backwards to gain some distance before I get up, but before I gain much distance I feel something grab my arms and hold me down.

I naturally try fighting, but there isn't much you can do when there are 3 people fighting against you.

Not to mention how foxes are more agile than they are strong.

I then feel something fit around my head.

 **(Language Warning. I will provide a summary at the A.N. at the bottom if you want to skip this.)**

They did not just fucking do that.

They did not just put a fucking muzzle on me.

Those assholes seem to let me go, contempt in what they just did, and let me get up as I hear Woolson say, "You are just an animal. You deserve the muzzle like the fox you are. You are a pathetic fox that no one likes, I am doing you a favor by putting the muzzle on you."

As if I didn't understand the first fucking time.

He seems to wait to see my reaction. Instinctively my claws come out, my face scrunches up, and I hunch over. He crossed the fucking line and shit on it in the process.

"Is this some fucking joke? Cut the god damn shit," they seem surprised at how I just cursed, "Whatever fucking problems you are having in your life, leave me the fuck out of it," I rip the muzzle off of my head, adrenaline keeping it from hurting that much, "Get a goddamn refund, and leave me the fuck alone," I say tossing the muzzle to the ground in front of him, "I have enough fucking problems in my life to deal with without you dickheads annoying me, so leave me the fuck alone!"

Woolson seems stunned for a bit as I go to grab my backpack before tears start breaking out as he yells, "What problems could you have?! My dad is dying! And it is all your fault! This is all your fault! You ruined everything!"

I stop in my tracks, I suppose I should feel pity… But I don't. "Welcome to life motherfucker! This isn't some fantasy story where everything ends happy," I say walking over to him and pointing my finger at his chest, "my dad abandoned me when I was five years old. You aren't as special as you think you are. Life will chew you up and spit you out before leaving you there to die. People will take advantage of you for their own personal gain. And you can grovel in your pit where you think you are special and correct or you could grow the fuck up and realize life for what it is truly is. Now if you excuse me I have to go take my little brother home and make him food while my mom works 13 hours a day for us to just fucking survive," I say grabbing my backpack walking off in the process.

They didn't bother to stop me.

 **(End of Language. If you did skip it I recommend you read the summary as it will be referenced to later in this chapter.)**

That was… cathartic.

* * *

"Hey Nick, What's up?" I say walking up to Nick with a fake smile.

He runs over with a large smile on his face giving me a large hug. I return the hug hiding my anger.

I need a goddamn nap before I murder somebody.

* * *

Could learning parkour help you kill somebody?

* * *

Have you ever read a really good story, something that once you finish you look around and notice how life is continuing on as if that emotional trauma you just experienced never happened.

And that feeling that the people whose emotions and conflicts you just read about really aren't real, and how you will have to give up all of the emotions you had just built up.

I'm drifting off. But that feeling of seeing society go on around you after you just experience something, I am feeling that. After what happened yesterday with Woolson seeing school just go on around as if nothing happened… it feels weird. Still Woolson is giving me the odd glance from the side.

At the same time we have a field trip today. Wooo!

To some farm in the neighboring the middle of nowhere. You know? North of Timbuktu, and sister location to the void.

If that doesn't quite tell you enough about it, just imagine a plain old grass field and… Well that's pretty much what I'm looking at. There is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary about it.

But that is what they would want us to think...

Oh my god! That means that there is supposed to be some sleeping super power under this place that is going to give it some relevance, like in the movies. And then we will have to go through a fight of our lives, going through emotional and physical trauma and after several years of endless fighting we win only to find out that it was only the beginning, only for the story to close hinting that we lost in the end and the little victories we did get in the end were pyrrhic?

At least that would add some excitement. Because god damn the only interesting thing about this place is that there is nothing interesting about it.

I think I've stressed my point enough.

I actually don't know why they are taking us on this, I think it is along the lines of the school being able to say, "We have field trips," because they pretty much let us go saying, "try not to break anything."

It is some other rabbit colony, not Bunnyburrow, something else that I haven't bothered to learn. Still inhabited with rabbits. Oh boy you should have seen the looks they gave me.

"Oh Martha let's have all of our half a billion kids look at that one 12 year old. That won't cause any kid emotional trauma."

So naturally I went to the edge of the field and sat against a tree, pulled out my phone and listened to some music. Good ol' Arctic Monkeys. Yes infact, I do wanna know. ( **In case you don't realize that was a reference.** )

Still it's a nice day, and sitting under here with the occasional breeze that comes just in time to cool you down before it becomes uncomfortable is relaxing.

"No I'm telling you, Lynx's don't purr."

I open my eye. Some kids are walking by, oblivious of me sitting here. Seemingly in some argument over if cats purr.

Why don't I provide some insight.

"Lynx's do purr, as well as other smaller felines. For them it is mainly instinctive, however it has also shown to promote healing and even to help in therapy. It works along the lines of the larynx vibrating while they breath in and out causing a sound around 36ish hertz. It really is quite the purrfect in terms of evolution," I say out of nowhere, happy to just mess with them.

And oh my! They are confused. What in heavens shall I do? Did I scare them? One of them jumped back when I started talking.

I know!

"Was it the pun?" I ask as they just stare at me.

No response.

"It was the pun wasn't it?"

Still no response, a few kids look at each other in confusion, whispering in the process.

"Ah, just forgot I said anything," I say closing my eyes and going back to resting.

Ah confusing kids with science and awkwardness, all in a day's work.

Someone apparently wants to talk as I hear footsteps approach. I open an eye.

Oh, it's Woolson.

He's nervous about something. He's hunched over, wringing his hands, his sweating slightly, and breathing quickly. Not to mention how he reeks of it. Perks of being a fox, you can smell a lot more. Symptoms may include: racism, discrimination, and extremely good looks.

"So… uhhh…" he starts

I interrupt him saying, "Let me guess. You are going to say you're sorry, because you talked to one of your parents about this, and they said you should apologize and make up. Then I am supposed to say it's okay. Now tell me if I am wrong."

He blinks a few times, surprised, before nodding yes.

"Well too bad I'm an evil bastard. Tough luck getting me to say that. Because I'm not the kind to forget things. So if you truly feel sorry this is what you'll do. You will piss off and leave me alone, and maybe, just maybe I might forgive you. And if you don't, then go ahead continue what you were doing. Cement the image I have for you," I say giving him a death glare.

He blinks a few more times and I can see anger cross his face slightly, however he just nods it off and walks away.

Good.

* * *

 **For those who skipped the part with language here is what happened. (Elijah was reading a book over the introductions to calculus when Woolson and three of his friends came over. At first Elijah acts confident thinking they won't do much, however he is wrong as they beat him. Shortly after the muzzle him mocking him in the process, causing Elijah to snap. He then goes on a rant yelling at them due to anger. Woolson replies with a tearful yell revealing that he attacked Elijah due to how his father is dying and that he blamed Elijah for it. Elijah responds in anger saying how his own father left him giving his cynical and pessimistic view on the world including how hard his mom works and how he has to take care of Nick a lot of the time, before picking up his stuff and leaving.)**

 **Wow! That was, uh, interesting to write. Anyway, thanks for reading! And I hope to see you next chapter! (That sounded so cheesy.)**

 **This chapter also took a lot longer than I would have wanted it to take, so I kinda rushed it out, so there might be a few mistakes.**

 **RESPONDING TO REVIEWS TIME:**

 **Julia N SnowMiko: Thanks, and yes there will be plenty of time skips. I am planning to get the childhood wrapped up in 1-3 more chapters.**

 **4212 wonderland: I see your logic, and I wouldn't imagine Elijah would really hide it that much, but at the same time, what would they really expect? I mean, if a kid is acing the class, you wouldn't really imagine that he had been reincarnated. And while you do have other things which are harder to pass it off as being really smart, I still doubt they would have that many suspicions about a kid.**

 **Sanichunt: Yeah I had thought of that, but I passed it off thinking that it is just speech patterns and it would be okay. In hindsight that wasn't the best idea, so thanks for pointing that out!**

 **15delgizzij: Your welcome, I will PM you if I ever have any ideas that I want to see if they are good. The problem is that while I like the idea of socially awkward situations, and I would want to write about them. I created Elijah to be the lone wolf type of character who would rather hang out with himself then other kids. So the situation I put in this chapter was trying to remedy that slightly as I would like to include situations like that.**

 **Anyway this question will be what is your dream job? I don't mean this in terms of pay, what do you want to do with your life. Whatever you choose you will earn plenty amount of money, (So if you choose gas station employee you would still earn several hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.)**


	4. Asking For Positive Changes

Age 13

"Mom, is it okay if I join the Junior Ranger Scouts?" Nick asks walking up to her as she cooks in the dinner table.

If this was a movie I was lower my newspaper and a dramatic crescendo would play.

*BUAAAAAH*

I guess looking up from the work I am doing for school will have to do with the sound of a 'clang' of a pot being put down in the sink being my crescendo.

No matter what my crescendo is I would have the same thought. Crap.

So, uh, let's get some background first. I haven't exactly not planned for this, but at the same time I didn't really plan for this that well.

I thought about it once and devised a plan and was too lazy to think about if it would actually work that well, and… well really anything about it. I was too busy at the time… uh, doing stuff.

Anyway I should stop procrastinating.

I mean there are only so ways this is going to go. I am going to help Nick no matter what happens. The only thing I'm not really sure what I'm going to do, is what happens once I talk to him. Or if the same situation even happens.

Dear god, what am I going to do?

"Eli you okay?" I hear Nick say.

I blink a few times. I was staring off into space wasn't I?

"Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm fine, just thinking bout stuff."

Nice job playing it cool moron. They will never suspect anything.

* * *

So, here's the day in which Nick goes to his first meeting of the Junior Ranger Scouts.

Okay, that it taking too long to say, let's just call it the, uh… JRS? Why not. I was thinking about the Asshole Convention, but that isn't really that shorter.

So, yeah, he's going to the JRS. That's probably the only time I'm going to use it, figures that I would create something and never use it.

I actually had forgotten that he still needed to buy the suit, which had alleviated some stress that had built up, because it gave me a couple weeks of extra preparation. God damn that suit is expensive, selling the suit for how much it is should be a crime.

I actually did pitch in slightly as I was curious to whether this will change anything, so who knows maybe this will never happen.

Yeah, I'm just wishful thinking.

"So Nick do you want me to come with you?" I ask as he stands in front of the door, practically bouncing with excitement.

"Are you kidding? This is going to be like a piece of cake!" He says radiating confidence and happiness.

Now I am starting to really hate the kids that are going to break his heart. Those bastards at the JRS (I USED IT!) are all real dicks.

And even worse. He said, 'like a piece of cake'. And you know what they say, the cake is a lie.

That actually doesn't really have any relevance, I just had to say that. Me and my portal references.

Damn, now I want some cake.

Back to the point! Yeah tough luck Nick, I'm following you, no matter what you say.

Mom finally comes back with a camera as Nick says, "Finally! I was starting to think you would never come back!"

Cheeky bastard.

Still Mom just smiles as she pulls it up to her eye saying, "Say cheese."

That was actually quite redundant as Nick already has the largest smile possible.

The flash goes off signaling that she took a picture, she shortly says, "Okay, Elijah get in there," she says motioning with her hand.

I shrug going up next to Nick bending down slightly so I am closer to his height. I give 2 thumbs up and a wide smile with an open mouth, looking overly happy. Whenever I am in the same picture as Nick I always look as ridiculous as possible to embarrass him.

Mom takes a few more pictures before she gives Nick the go, which causes him to scream out of the house, not even bothering to close the door.

I close the door letting out a slight chuckle as I can see him sprint down the street.

"Hey mom, I think I'm going to go for a walk, is that okay with you?" I ask putting my plan into motion. It helps quite a bit that it is a really nice night tonight.

"You don't need to hide that you are going to make sure everything goes fine with Nick, Elijah," she says slightly condescendingly.

"Was it that obvious?" I ask half-heartedly.

"I have lived with you for all your life, I can tell the difference between you smirking because you just messed with somebody and you smirking because you are about to mess with somebody."

"Ouch. Right in the pulmonary artery," I say putting my hand over where my heart will be.

"Fine, go ahead. Just be careful."

"Of course, see you later," I say walking out of the door.

I take a deep breath before I go along the sidewalk towards the school on a brisk pace. I don't know why but this feels a lot more important than it really is.

I guess I'll think about how nice of a night it is. Cool enough, but not too cold, the occasional breeze, the moonlight lighting up the sidewalk, and generally no one else around.

Shame I can't really see the stars though due to how many street lights there are.

You know what, I'll just run the rest of the way there. It'll give me something to distract my mind.

 **(5 Minute Time Gap)**

As I come up to the school I can already see Nick sit against the stairs crying into his arms. I guess I'm kinda late. Still it is hard to out run a eight year old kid who is hyped up on adrenaline who would kill somebody to reach his goal.

And now he is crying outside alone, due to the thing he was so excited about.

It is taking a lot of self control to not I beat the living hell out of the kids in there. Show them why they should fear a predator.

It's just how Nick it too soft to wish anything bad upon anyone else.

I walk up to Nick, who is still not aware of me here, and sat down next to him against the wall, alerting him of my presence.

He immediately wraps himself around he and continues crying into my shoulder.

Now here is something I thought about. I could ask him what happened, playing the part of not knowing about the future, but honestly I think at the moment he needs to feel that he has an omnipotent older brother looking over him.

"It's okay Nick, just let it out," I say wrapping my arm around him and holding him closer, looking down the street as I can feel his tears seep through my shirt.

I just sit here for a minute or two letting him cry into my shoulder.

He finally stutters out, "w-w-why?"

Now there are many way this could be deciphered, but I'm going to assume he meant 'why did they do this?'

"Nick, I am going to be honest here. Now, I wouldn't tell this to anyone else your age, but I think that you are strong enough to know this," I pause taking a breath, "The world is not that happy of a place. There are some really mean people out there, and you are going to have to deal with them sometimes. Mom and I won't always be here for you to protect you against them," I pause slightly letting him digest this, "and one problem that we share, is that we foxes aren't that liked in Zootopia. And a lot of people will think you as 'just a fox', which is sad, and sometimes the easiest option is just to play by those views. It is part of the unfortunate truth, but you can think of it as you just got unlucky, which I wouldn't recommend, or you can think of it in a more positive way. Because I know that when you were created life was thinking," I put on a different narrator voice, "Nick Wilde? Oh he is so tough that making him anything else would be a cake walk for him. We should make him a fox because we know that he is so strong that he can handle this."

He's stopped crying, but he is still sniffling slightly, but is still staring at the adjacent wall from us.

I continue, "still there are some good parts of it. It's not only living life on hard mode. We foxes are naturally smart, sneaky, good at manipulating people, agile, and not to mention devastatingly handsome." I finish nudging him slightly.

He lets out a small laugh at that.

I lift him up from my shoulder and sit him up across from me, "Now you could let those traits go to waste, or you could use them to your advantage. But don't let it define who you are, you can use the gifts you are given, but you still are your own person. You be who you want to be, not who society makes you out to be. But here's the thing. I can talk all I want, but in the end you have to decide what you want to believe. But I am not going to sit around and not try to help. So I want you to yell out to the world, 'I'm proud to be a fox!' Prove that you are up to the challenge. Okay?"

He nods slightly so I motion for him to go, "i'm proud to be a fox," he whispers silently.

I should've known, "Oh come on!" I say putting on joking disappointment, "That isn't the Nick I know. You know what? I'm just going to pretend I had something stuck in my ear," I say scratching my ear, "Okay, I'm ready for you to say it!"

"I'm proud to be a fox." He says talking slightly louder this time.

I yawn, "Did you hear something? It must have been the wind," I say shortly after motioning for him to try again.

"I'm proud to be a fox." He says at the same volume with more determination.

"Again!" I shout running out of excuses.

"I'm proud to be a fox!" He says slightly louder.

"Let me show you how it's done," I say, I exaggerate taking a breath before shouting, "I'M PROUD TO BE A FOX!"

"I'M PROUD TO BE A FOX!" He says matching me now.

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT. I'M PROUD TO BE A FOX!"

"I'M PROUD TO BE A FOX!"

"I'M PROUD TO BE A FOX!"

"I'M. PROUD. TO. BE. A. FOX!" He shouts now standing up confidently.

"HELL YEAH! AGAIN!"

"I NICK WILDE, AM PROUD TO BE A FOX!" He yells pushing out his chest and putting his hands to his side putting himself in a confident pose.

"WHOOOOO! YEAH! THAT'S THE NICK WILDE I KNEW!" I say hitting him on the shoulder.

He breaks out laughing, going as far as falling to the ground laughing incoherently. As I stare at him I realise something, honestly, I think I needed that also. I lean against the stairwell crossing my arms and watching Nick roll on the ground with a smile.

He finishes in a couple of a seconds getting up off the ground… He then proceeds to barrel into me giving me a large hug.

"Thanks Eli," He says mid hug as I return it.

God damn I really love him at the moment.

* * *

So it is about 3 days later. Nick and I had gotten some ice cream, with my money I might add (I'm a cheapskate), and went home and told mom. She did the classic mom thing of asking them if they are okay while I went and played on my phone.

But something even more important popped up.

I'm going to need to teach Nick how to win card games.

Let me elaborate on that.

One of the kids I go to school with has birthdays every year and in those birthdays he generally has a lot of group games, including many card games. Naturally being the person I am, I researched tactics and used those to help me win.

Now that kid's younger brother is going to have the same birthday party, and Nick got invited so naturally I have to teach Nick the art of being a fox.

I'll skip the boring parts of teaching him simple strategies, shuffle tracking, and hole carding and go to the interesting part.

"So while all those tactics are nice, there is always something more you can do," I say grabbing Nick's attention.

I really bored him with all those tactics.

"Now, I never said this," I say leaning in and turning my voice to a whisper, "but you could always cheat if you want to."

His face flies through several emotions ranging from, interest, to confusion, then to curiosity, then to wary.

"Isn't that bad?" He asks.

"I like to think of it as if you can get away with it, and nothing is really on the line. Then the fact that you were able to trick them without them realizing is more of an accomplishment than anything else. And plus, if no one saw it, it never happened," I reply nonchalantly. I'm a really great influence aren't I.

"Now there is always several ways for doing this, from tricking them mentally, to distracting them in something important, to the classic changing your hand," I say pulling an Ace of Spades I had hid in my hand, with some sleight of hand.

I then make it disappear with a flick of my hand and then show both sides of my hand proving to him that it 'disappeared'.

He stares with wide eyes.

I grin, I'm such a show off. "I see you're interested. Let me show you how it's done," I say getting into a more comfortable position, "Step 1: Confidence."

* * *

Nick and I walk through the streets. It is quite a beautiful day, not too hot, not too cold, nice breezes, kind of those idyllic days you see in movies.

Currently we are on summer break, and mom is at work so I talked to Nick and we decided to walk around Zootopia today.

I had actually decided to switch up my clothing today going for the trench coat-ish top, with black pants and black glasses going for a Neo look from the Matrix. Or the Zootopia equivalent of Micetrix (Someone kill me).

"How was the party last night?" I ask as we walk across the streets.

"Your plans worked so well! I won so many games in a row, all the kids were asking me how I did it," he says enthusiastically.

"I told you. After all it is me, and when has anything with me ever gone wrong?" I saw spreading my arms and tilting my head into a jokingly brash pose.

Nick snorts saying, "all the time."

"Like when?" I pause for a second, "don't answer that."

Nick lets out a laugh, "I told you so."

Okay, we can play that game, "Oh no! I've been caught! Hey, you know what? Don't you remember that time you told that girl…"

His face turns to horror as he shouts, "SHUT UP!," his face turning to a pout.

"I'm just teasing you. Come on, where do you want to go?"

He looks around at the little outdoor mall area we are in before pointing to a nearby GameSloth ( **GameStop** ).

I had bought us the equivalent of a PS4 a couple months ago for us to play together. We had both enjoyed playing together, occasionally getting Mom or some other friends to play with us, but we had easily exhausted the games we had bought, so I can't argue that much when he wants to buy a new game.

We walk across the street and into the shop as I tell Nick, "Tell me if you find anything interesting, I'll be looking at some games," I finish walking off.

I browse over some games trying to see if anything catches my eye. No, nope, nah, nip, naught. Ooh, Bloodboar ( **Bloodborne. If you don't know what it is, just know that it is a video game** ). Maybe I can try that.

I had played the hell out of Bloodborne in my previous life, I wonder if this will be any different. I always did like this game, it's kinda interesting how my huge interest in video games seemed to dissipate when I got reborn.

"No! I demand to see your manager," I hear a voice yell from behind me.

Oh boy.

"Sir I told you already, you need a receipt in order to get a refund. Now if you do have the same credit card you used to buy the game I can do the transaction," a jaguar says behind the counter to a tiger.

Someone get the popcorn. I'll get the beach chairs.

"No one told me I was supposed to have any of these, now give me a goddamn refund or I am going to get your sorry ass fired!" The tiger says getting increasingly angry.

"I'm sorry that the cashier never told you this information, but at this point there isn't much we can do."

"Sir, can you stop, you are being very rude," Nick says from nowhere, apparently having gotten behind the tiger.

God damn it, I have to tell him to stay out of situations like these.

"Back off fox, go back to the hole where you live in!" The tiger says angrily causing a look of horror to cross Nick's face.

Yeah, that's enough.

I walk up to Nick saying, "Let's go okay?"

He nods tearfully as I grab his hand and walk him outside and onto the sidewalk ignoring the vocal jab the tiger gave us on the way out.

I turn to him to tell him that sometimes he will have to be more careful when I notice that he has a large grin on his face.

"Okay, what happened?" I say now suspicious.

He motions for me to get closer and I kneel down and he pulls something out of his pocket saying, "I got his wallet."

Oh shit.

"Okay, uh. Listen, Nick, there are some things that are just wrong…" I say going to reprimand him.

However I am interrupted when I hear alarms turn around and see the exact same tiger run out of the store carrying several games in his arms.

I turn back to Nick now confused as his grin gets even bigger as he says, "I saw him pick up the game off of the shelf."

That sneaky bugger.

"Well, I guess he did deserve that. Just don't do it again. If you are going to do something like this make sure whatever you are doing is legal. And if you have to just make sure that they don't see it, okay?"

"Okay!"

* * *

"Happy birthday Nick!" All the kids yell as Nick blows out the candles on his cake with a huge grin.

* * *

"We're going on a roadtrip!" Mom says walking into the kitchen where Nick and I are doing work.

Nick looks up excited while I just say, "Cool."

"Where do you guys want to go?" She asks.

I look up from my work.

Hmmmmm. I have an idea. I just wonder…

Well… Actually I like the sound of that.

* * *

Okay! I might have just messed things completely up. Like on a scale of 1-10 on the 'I Might Have Just Ruined Everything Scale' I am on a firm 11.

Let me explain, so we are in the car and going to, drum roll please!... Bunnyburrow!

DUH! DUH! DUUUUUUUUUUH!

Since my class had gone on the field trip to another farm I had thought if it is possible for us to go here. I was so caught up by the idea that I am only allowed to change Nick in his childhood that I never wondered if I can do it for anyone else. So it was a stupid question, of course we can go there.

So me being the idiot that I am decided to test if I can go there to see if it will have any repercussions. Because me and my naturally god damn inquisitive mind goes and tries to f-everything up. WHOOPTY FREAKIN DOO DAH!

So, naturally, I managed to convince mom and Nick to want to go there. 10 points to the idiot of Zootopia!

Now you might think that this isn't that bad, but let me explain some scenarios. Imagine if I change how Judy thinks, to the point in which she never becomes a cop. What then? Do we lose? Is it just 'the end' then? Is my entire life just a waste?

See my problem?

Worst part is that I have to wait for several years before I can find out taking anxiety to a whole nother level.

At least we are only going to be here for a couple days before we go to the next place, which is some ancient ruins of a nearby settlement

BUT STILL, THIS IS NOT! WORTH THE HEADACHE.

* * *

Nick and I get out of the car while mom goes to find the house we rented.

Apparently we came at the right time as the local fair is going on, meaning we can try out all the local foods. Not to mention how it is a bustling hub of activity, which is bound to create at least one interesting situation.

I think I've calmed down enough to not freak out completely at my current situation, a lot of silent hyperventilating and self motivation will do the trick.

I decided that I'll just act normally. If I were to come across Judy then I would try to keep my influence to a minimum. A lot of this is just relying on the hope that nothing goes wrong.

Considering how the future depends on this, I don't know how I am not freaking out. Just stay calm I mean what are the chances that Judy Hopps is going to even meet us? I mean with all the kids the chances are pretty miniscule.

"Hello!"

Ah god damn it.

I turn around and look at the young bunny, slightly smaller than Nick who is staring up at us with a large smile.

I plaster on a fake smile and say, "Hey, I don't think we've met before, what's your name?"

"I'm Judy Hopps!"

(A string of mental curses which I am not going to put here for the sake of your mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.)

Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Play it cool. "Well Judy, I'm Elijah Wilde and this is my brother Nick Wilde," I say gesturing to Nick who just stares at Judy with a smile.

"Nice to meet you Elijah! You look like a guy I know. He's also a fox! Hiis name is Gideon Gray, do you know him?"

I generally would be more upset that she would think that because I'm a fox I know every other fox, but I guess she really hasn't learned that it can be kinda rude. "I don't think I've heard of him before. We're from Zootopia and we are traveling around seeing the countryside."

"That's so cool! I want to go to Zootopia and become a police officer when I grow up!"

Okay, keep calm, try not to f-everything up, "Well you do know that there have never been any bunny cops before," now for the motivational speech, "But at the same time you shouldn't let that stop you. Okay? So if you ever have any doubts at becoming an officer just think that it is naturally going to happen, and how it is only an obstacle to greatness."

Her face lightens up. I guess she doesn't get this response often, if at all.

"Thanks Elijah! Can I show you and Nick around?"

Okay, you know the rules, keep interaction to a minimum.

"Sure, why not. Lead the way," I say not thinking.

No, wrong answer, keep influence at a minimum. AUGH! What is wrong with me!

"Follow me!" She says jogging off with a little hop in her stride.

"Why didn't you tell her what you told me?" Nick asks me. Ah he is probably talking about how I was so optimistic with her while with Nick I am more brutally honest.

"Because I know that you are strong enough to know the truth. I'm not sure about Judy. Is that okay with you?"

"Of course it's okay. I'm obviously strong enough."

I give up.

* * *

"BLUEBERRIES!"

Note to self, Nick loves blueberries.

* * *

As I look back at Bunnyburrow from the car seat I can only think one thing.

I'm an idiot.

But only partially, you should have seen Judy's parents faces when they saw her hanging out with a fox.

So idiot -1, but then +1 for talking to her even more… so it all rounds out. I'm an idiot, fair and square.

* * *

 **I think I kinda went overboard in the Junior Ranger Scout scene. It was fun writing though. I hope you enjoyed it nearly as much as I had writing it.**

 **On another note, I hadn't really noticed how much attention this had gotten. I go to look over reviews and I realize we have over 40 followers and 1,400 views. Like wow! I did not expect this much attention when I first started this story, and I want to thank each and everyone of you for giving me the inspiration to continue, and for your support in this story.**

 **Also I don't know why but whenever I read this chapter something feels off, and I can't put my finger on it so sorry if this chapter is not as good as others.**

 **And responding to reviews!**

 **Fuzzybutt35kollin: I can understand at what you are getting from, but I couldn't imagine Elijah being the kind of person that would actively search for friends. I actually created him to be the loner kind of character. Sorry about that, but I might do something in the future.**

 **Guest (Talked about Elijah being able to remember plot points): That is actually a very good point, and I have been thinking about later on having this come into play. The problem is that it is really hard to know how much you would remember in a situation like this, so I generally assume that early on when there isn't much stress you can remember a lot but as time progresses further he will forget more.**

 **Sanichunt: Thanks for pointing that out! (You weren't the only person to think that.)**

 **I would love to respond to each and every review, I really do. But at the same time I don't want to take up too much word count with these, so for future reference I'll respond to reviews asking questions or pointing things out errors I made and thanking them. (At the moment if you ask me to respond to the comment I'll try my best to respond to those.)**

 **I'm planning to wrap up the childhood in probably 2 more chapters.**

 **One last thing before the question, I'll try to keep a schedule on my profile page on when I am going to update, however I can't promise I'll keep this updated as I am quite forgetful, but it might help a bit.**

 **QUESTION: Do you prefer magic or high tech science. Fantasy or science fiction. (I'm not going to be that specific in what I mean when I say this, use your imagination.) And why? Or do you prefer something else entirely?**


	5. Asking For Forgiveness

Age 16

Turns out, you have to be the same age to get your driver's license.

Suprise!

Well it isn't that surprising for me, I had known for several years at this point, and I had gotten my driver's permit almost ¾'s of a year ago.

So now I have my driver's license! And due to me saving up money, and a little intervention from mom (maybe a lot), I now have my own car. It might not be the best car, but it is still mine. I could go into the make, and stuff like that, but I could never remember that stuff, so all you have to know is that it is a car.

It is actually an electric car. We do have cars running on gasoline, but due to how little conflict there is, and the little to no corruption in companies they got their crap together and worked on environmentally friendly cars. Surprising how selfless everyone in Zootopia is.

And from the little research I've done, the majority of the energy is created through environmentally friendly means. So yay! I don't have to worry about global warming as much! Something to cross of my list of 'potentially world ending things I may or may not have to watch out for in the near future'.

The reason I am saying this though is now I can travel around Zootopia a lot easier, helping in a variety of things, including: getting to my job (Yes, I got one), bringing Nick around, and helping around the house, by leaving the house and getting stuff.

Driving around with Nick is actually quite fun, partially because I act like a 5 year old in the car with him in a plenty of weird and sometimes outright strange ways. Still he plays along because he enjoys it, only adding to the fun.

Still we do have the family dinners, when mom drives us out to a restaurant and generally we have fun talking throughout the night.

* * *

"Who would make the best dictator?" I say twirling the fork in my hand.

After a second Nick and I both say, "Mom," at the exact same time.

"Well, I know who's getting executed first," Mom says nonchalantly.

I fake a gasp, "Oh! you wouldn't even dream of hurting your sweet and loving children, would you? There is so much more I want to do, I'm to young to die!" I say faking horror.

She seems to contemplate it for a second before saying "Oh, I am so sorry, I don't know what I was thinking," she says faking sorrow.

"Does that mean if you die we will inherit your empire?" Nick asks.

"Yes. You could continue the Wilde family name and lead us to new heights," she says with conviction.

"Hey Elijah!" Nick says with an overly large smile on his face, "Do you know how much a hitman costs?"

* * *

And stuff like that. Nick is starting to become more of a sneaky little devil.

I've taught him well.

I don't want to jinx things, but I don't see how things can go wrong.

* * *

 **(There is going to be a fair bit of cursing from here on in this chapter, so sorry about that.)**

Age 17

I just had to f-ing say that. I just had to f-ing say that.

Things just had to go f-ing wrong when things were starting to look up.

I know how things have been kinda bumpy before, and things have gone up and down, but compared to this, that was all a walk in the park.

Because you know that feeling of hopelessness you sometimes get, that life just took a turn for the worst, and there is no f-ing thing you can do to fix it? Yeah, well I am feeling that.

I suppose I might as well explain what is happening.

So recently mom has been diagnosed with cancer. And not any type, a rare type of pancreatic cancer called adenocarcinoma.

How the hell do you say that?

And at first things did seem bad, but if you think about it, cancer isn't all that new in terms of the medical field. There are plenty of things you can do to try to cure cancer, and with so much money put into the Zootopia medical department you would think things would be fine.

But if you ask the doctor what are the chances of her surviving and he stutters, and he fucking stutters. Then things just got bad.

A bit of Zoogling later and life crashes down upon me.

The five year fucking survival rate is around 4%. Four fucking percent.

Pardon my language, but I think I get a little god damn leeway. Because I was just pretty much told that my mom is going to die in the next five years. Five years!

Imagine having to make plans because your last parent is going to die and you have to maximise the time you have left with them. Do you know how heartbreaking it is to make those plans?

What about when I tell Nick? How exactly do you tell a 12 year old that his mom is dying.

Now you might think 4%, there is still a chance. And considering my luck, how death wasn't the end you would think that, that 4% would prevail. And I desperately want to believe that. I just want to believe that I can ignore it and it will go away.

And things apparently got worse.

On average only 20% of the people who get this survive 12 months.

I'm only glad school was able to forgive me missing a couple days of school.

I was a mess.

You know how they say 'count your blessings'. Well I can count them alright, I can count them on one single hand. And not your five fingered hand, but my four fingered hand.

I can hardly think clearly at the moment. I've literally spent an hour at a desk at one point not doing anything. I just need a break at the moment. I'm going to do something to keep my mind busy.

* * *

Well, damn.

So yeah I told Nick about Mom. I had to eventually, and I figured I might do it before it is too late. I wouldn't think our relationship would last too long if I told him I had been holding off information about our dying mother.

Well that is kinda a stretch actually, mom had told him. I was more just standing there and tried to make things look okay.

He took it pretty bad. I pretty much went full protective older brother on him. He is still kind of the same person, if you were to see him in a public situation he still is the same sarcastic cheeky kid you expect him to be, and he even acts pretty normal at home. But I have experience with this, and I'm able to tell that he is hurting on the inside.

But being the full protective older brother, I have literally talked with some therapists in case things get out of control with him.

That is about it. Not much of interest recently. Kind of surprising how much of your life something like this will take up.

* * *

Age 18

You know how some old people say as they get older, their birthday feels less like a celebration and more like them counting down until they die.

I might be feeling that now. Not for me, but for mom.

I suppose I should be happy that she survived over a year with the 20% chances… but as stated at this point it feels more like I am counting down the days until she dies.

And things aren't looking up. She has been getting worse, she has to go to the hospital more often, hasn't been feeling as good, things like that.

I've been making sure that Nick and I get more time with her. Somehow I'm not that surprised that she is taking this the best, somehow in the face of death she still manages to smile and be happy. At least that has worn off on Nick a bit more.

Now, uh, I have been thinking. At this point I'm the only person that knows how I have lived a life before this. And I generally was planning to keep it that way, but with mom dying I figured that I should tell her.

I feel like it is the least I can do.

Still, whenever I want to, I have that feeling like you want to tell them, but at the same time you don't. You hype yourself up to tell them and count down mentally when you are going to tell them, only to not do it. Only for you to repeat that.

And I'm afraid that I'll never tell her.

You know what, I'll stop rambling.

* * *

Well, I graduated from high school. Not as exciting as I thought it would be. Still it is probably because I was never invested that much in school.

Unlike most kids I never really wanted to grow up, never thought of it as that happy of a prospect.

Anyways I was prepared to move out, and probably to some room in an apartment, but mom asked me to stay an watch over Nick, due to her condition. I can't help but feel like I am one of those people that stay in their parent's basement until they are 30.

I think you can tell at this point I'm not going to college. I'm not that interested in living a life of academics. I mean, I enjoy learning things, but it isn't something I want to pursue. Honestly, I am waiting for the events of the movie to start And once that is done with, I don't really know.

Still I think I still have a good 10-ish years to wait, so it isn't like I am rushed on time.

* * *

"Nick, we need to talk," I say walking into his room.

"I'm working right now, can we do it later?" He says without looking up.

I walk over to his desk and pick up his homework as he is working on it, "Nope, we are talking now."

He turns around slightly miffed, "Ok, what do you want?"

"We're talking about what's going on with you."

He stands there a second his face warped in confusion before going up to the door, ready to leave. I was ready for this, as I close the door before he reached it.

"Just listen to me," I say with some slight desperation.

"I did listen," he says going for the door again.

I put my hand on it as he futilely tries to open the door.

"We're going to talk about it," I say not budging.

"Since when did you turn into mom?" He says now annoyed.

"When she had to go to the hospital. Now make it easier for both of us and sit down."

He, stands there for a second, before giving up and goes to sit down on his bed with an angry sigh, "Fine, happy?"

"Yes, I am," I pull the chair he was sitting in, to nearby his door sitting down letting out a sigh. "I've noticed how since Mom has told you what is going on with her, you haven't been as happy, and I know that this is probably something you don't want to do, but I think we should talk about it."

"I'm not sad."

"Bull shit, O ye of little faith?" I say trying to lighten the mood slightly, "we both know you are not the same as before."

"And why does that matter?"

I shift in my seat, "Because there are some things I would rather not take chances on."

"What?" He says looking slightly confused and at the same anxious.

"Nick, I need to ask, how bad have things gotten for you?" I take a deep breath, "have you ever thought of suicide?"

"Why do we have to talk about this?" He asks his face not changing, but I can tell that I struck a nerve.

"Let me tell you a story," I say, he tries to interject but I silence him with a wave of the hand, "I had a friend once. He seemed perfectly happy and fine, but after a while I had learned that he was severely depressed. He had come to me out of sheer desperation. He was so afraid that he would kill himself that he just needed to tell someone. I think he said exactly, 'I don't want to live another week.' He felt that life was hopeless, and that no matter what he did, he was always going to be unhappy. Turns out I was the only person he told. I want to believe that I helped him all I could, but in the end he killed himself. I didn't even see it coming. He had even said in the note he left that he didn't want me to blame myself, because he knew I would. But in the end, I couldn't help but feel there was more I could have done. Now, the last thing I am going to take chances on is if you are depressed. Now, please, tell me if you are sad or depressed, because the last thing I want to happen is losing you to depression also."

I'll give him credit as it only took him a couple seconds before he broke into tears.

* * *

So, I have good news and bad news. I'll start with the good news. Turns out Nick had thought about suicide, and I would like to think that me noticing that early on had helped, as of this moment, we can confidently say that he is no longer depressed.

Now for the bad news, and by bad news, I mean really fucking bad news.

Mom died. And no that is not a fucking joke.

I've already cried enough already. I don't think I can physically cry anymore, actually I don't think I feel anything anymore. I just feel numb, both physically and emotionally.

She died at 1 A.M. The people at the hospital asked me to tell Nick and bring him there. Instead I spent half an hour crying at my desk. I then went and told Nick. I guess there are plenty of better ways to tell him than waking him up in the middle of the night and immediately telling him his mother died. And because I did that things naturally didn't go that well, as eventually he got angry with me and said, "Why couldn't it have been you instead of mom!"

I had immediately then walked out of the house, and drove to one of those 24 hour coffee shops. I know I should've tried calming down Nick, but I just need a fucking break. So here I am sitting here with coffee in my hands looking out into space wallowing in self pity. I never lived long enough in my previous life to experience anything like this, so for the first time in a while I feel at a loss, I'm facing a situation I don't know how to deal with.

And speaking of my previous life, I never told mom about it. Some son I am.

But after sitting here for what feels to be an eternity I eventually give up in waiting for something to change and go back to my car.

I guess I'm going home now.

* * *

Fuck! Just plainly, fuck!

I come home and Nick is gone. Gone, completely gone. What a good older brother I am. Tell him that his mother is dead and run off, when he needs help.

Now I thought that I should go to the police, but the last thing Nick would want is some big fiasco to come out of this, as I think it would be slightly traumatizing to have his mother die and have some police officers immediately come after. So this is a last resort, or more really a 'once I start to lose my mind' resort.

Now I thought that it would be easy to find him. Just think, where would Nick go if he ran away. Well it isn't that easy.

I can think easily of 4 places he would go. His friend's house, his other friend's house, the hospital, or to mom's friend, who he is quite close to.

Then I realized I was kind of an idiot. He has his phone, so I texted him the classic and cheesy, 'Nick I am sorry, now where are you?'

He hasn't replied.

However after a good 14 minutes of freaking out I get a heart attack by my phone buzzing in my pocket.

I don't think I've ever felt anything so dramatic as when I pulled out my phone to see who texted me.

So I was so relieved when it turns out it was Nick. The text basically said, 'Sorry, I'm here'. With an attached location.

Turns out I have a slight reason to not be relieved as much.

Because anyone who has been to the underworld of Zootopia knows that 2042 Glacier Lane is where Mr. Big lives.

* * *

You would think that a crime boss would have better defenses than a metal chain at his front gate. But I guess no one is insane enough to mess with him.

The only problem with me being here is that I am completely terrified.

There are two scenarios in my head that keep repeating, Nick pissed Mr. Big off and now I am going to be part of the punishment, or Mr. Big is pissed off at me leaving Nick by himself, which would also lead to my punishment.

I know I am probably over exaggerating things in my mind, but I mean I think I'm a mental wreck at the moment.

Not to mention how the polar bears watch you as you drive in telling you, 'you are leaving here in 2 ways, with Mr. Big's approval or in a coffin.'

Nick and Judy actually got really lucky that they didn't die. You would be surprised if you have heard the stories of what Mr. Big has done.

Lovely thoughts.

Still I'm not really sure where I am supposed to go. But I'll take it that the two polar bears standing next to the large door is where I am supposed to go.

* * *

Not much really happened. They just motioned me inwards without saying anything. One walked in front of me and one behind as we walked, to where, I guess they want me to go.

The only thing worth noting is how goddamn imposing they are.

Still it is hard not to shudder when you walk into a room to see Mr. Big sitting there with a large polar bear standing over him. If it was any other situation I would berate myself for being terrified by something so much smaller and less physically imposing than me, but I think I can make this one exception.

Still probably the most terrifying thing is the large polar bear staring at me.

Oh god, what was that polar bear's name again. Wasn't it russian or something like that. You know what, I'll call him Kevin.

So you have Mr. Big, Kevin, and half a dozen polar bears, all in nice suits, staring at me. Nothing really happens for a couple of seconds, so I decide that I might as well break the silence.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," I say bowing slightly.

He stares for another second before saying, in his Italian Mafia voice "The pleasure is mine," relaxing in his chair.

I know he is trying to be polite, but I can't help but feel that those are just formalities.

However, I have one question nagging at me, "If you don't mind me asking, do you happen to know where Nick Wilde is?" I say trying to sound as polite as possible.

"Hmm, yes, he is here. My driver Mr. Manchas had found him wandering around on the street and brought him here. He told us what happened, it is very unfortunate what happened to Nick and you."

I'm slightly surprised, you don't get the recognition from someone like him that easily. "Thank you sir. If you don't mind I think I need to talk to Nick," I say hoping he doesn't take that the wrong way.

"Pardon me, but it is of my understanding that you had left him alone," he says raising a finger as if he is contemplating something.

Ah crap. I don't think he is that happy with me.

"That is why I want to talk with him. I was confused and upset, I didn't know what I was doing when I left him. In fact I almost got a heart attack when I found that he wasn't home. I feel really guilty for leaving him alone" I say trying to defuse the anger.

"Hmmm," he says stroking his chin slightly seemingly less suspicious, "I had met your mother at one point."

Whoah. I actually did not expect that.

"She was very kind, not to mention very lovely. It saddens me greatly to know that she is dead," he says shaking his head, "You have my sincere condolences. Alas, as she was a friend of mine, I will make you an offer you can't refuse, as it is the least I can do for her kindness. I will offer you asylum here in my house."

I blink a few times, as if this is some illusion. Okay, then. He's right when I say it is an offer I can't refuse. And honestly it kind of left me speechless as I kind of stand there sputtering.

"I, uh, thank you so much," I say finally getting my bearings back, "it is very kind of you to do that. I won't lie when I say I was not expecting that. I'm still getting over my mother's death. But, thanks again, you don't know what this means to me," I say pausing. This actually explains slightly how Nick had gotten to know Mr. Big in the movies.

I take a breath asking him something that had been nagging at me, "May I ask, where was Nick when Mr. Manchas found him?"

"Mr. Manchas had said that he found him near Yaruga Bridge."

I blink several times again. Oh shit.

Now, you may be thinking what is so 'oh shit'. Well, let me give you some background, Yaruga bridge is a bridge in the Rainforest District. Nothing that special about it. It isn't the biggest, it isn't the oldest, it doesn't have interesting architecture, the only thing that might make it unique is it's location as it is generally heavily congested with traffic.

But a little fun fact that most people don't know is that, said bridge is the most common location for suicide in the entirety of Zootopia.

* * *

 **So yeah, that took a lot longer. Plenty of things added up to this, a lot of me being lazy, school work, and Dark Souls 3. So I'm sorry about that.**

 **Anyway, I bet most of you didn't expect this twist. Still I had to do a lot of research for this, and even something is probably off so, if you found something off sorry about that. And beyond that this feels very off, and I would normally have edited this more, but that would have delayed the chapter even longer, so sorry about that.**

 **On another note Zootopia now has over 1000 fanfictions, go team!**

 **Responding to Reviews:**

 **Booklover41: I'm more of a science fiction person. Thanks for asking.**

 **Zootopian Fulf: I'll try to include more clothing descriptions further on, never occurred to include that. Now that I think of it, thinking of what they are wearing helps me flush out a scene a bit more, so thanks for that.**

 **Luck out: (I didn't notice you asking this until just now) This chapter should be out as of this m** **oment.**

 **One last thing before the question, I think this is going to be the last chapter before we start going into the events of Zootopia. I'm going to say it now, that I'm not going to have the exact same plot, if you are going to have a self insert story said character has to change something, so expect things to be different.**

 **Question: Now I am writing an OC-SI, so the question is going to be, if you could travel into any universe (I mean from a story), what would it be? I would ask if you were to refrain from saying Zootopia as I want to see your views outside of this. :D**


	6. Asking For A Time Skip

So things have been getting better.

Well better in way like a war just ended. The bad things just seemed to end, and things are starting to look upwards, but at the same time there is some tension in the air, and for all you know things could just break out again.

I had apologized to Nick, he apologized back, we hugged and made up, all the things that you would think. Yet things still are not the same between us. I suppose a lot has happened to us recently, we both need time to mentally sort things out.

Speaking of things that has happened, living with Mr. Big. It's different, almost like that one grandparent that is really boring because they don't have anything to entertain you when you went to their house as a kid, which I had faced before. However said grandparent is apparently so rich to the point in which he can easily spare you money to do whatever you want, which I had not faced before.

I won't lie when I saw being a fox and staring at an arctic shrew brings up a weird predatorial instinct that I would rather not talk about. Luckily, for me, it isn't that overwhelming so you won't see me go 'feral' anytime soon, but it only seems to prove the point that there still are innate predatory instincts I have.

Maybe I could use those instincts to be a kick ass superhero. That would be fun.

Still with not much to really do, most of the more recent time has been spent walking around Zootopia, exploring places. Seriously, the entire city is almost like a theme park with each separate area, having their own attractions. If you have money, it is hard to run out of things to do.

Recently I've gone skiing, wake boarding, and wave running. I'm thinking of trying skydiving or scuba diving some point soon.

I guess I could say things are going relatively well, compared to what has happened. And before you say, 'last time you said that your mother died', at this point I'm not afraid of jinxing things.

* * *

 **(This is going to be where things start kicking off)**

Several Years Later

"And to think after all I've done, you would just do this to me," Nick says through the cell phone.

"With what I know, all you've been doing is sitting around on your lazy ass," I reply to Nick's fake hurt over the phone.

"Oh you hurt, have you no faith in my abilities?"

"As stated, I have no idea what you are doing, now drop the snark and tell me what the hell you are doing."

"Well _dearest_ older brother of mine, if you shall be so adamant of cracking the mystery, then you shall go on an adventure, over the deepest canyon, across the largest sea, where you will find me on top of the tallest mountain."

"Nick, I swear to god…"

"Ah hah hah hah," he fake laughs, "it's just a joke, wasn't it a funny joke?," I can almost hear him faking wiping the fake tear of laughter from his face over the phone, "I'm at The Grand Sahara Casino in Sahara Square."

Before he can say anymore I say "Thanks, it was about time," ending the phone call quickly afterwards.

I let out a deep sigh.

God damn it Nick.

Let me fill you in what happened over the years. Things never really got completely repaired between us, however they did get pretty better. Eventually however he got bored of staying with Mr. Big, we got into an argument and he just pretty much left. I pretty much let him do it. He basically cut all ties with Mr. Big, deciding to make his own money, from what I've seen he wants to live life the way he wants to live. I was pretty much okay with it, but considering how I read about a missing mammal who hasn't been found this morning, I thought it was about time we got back in contact. I'm not taking chances here.

I also miss his company.

I mean, I had texted him once or twice, and we had seen each other before, but it was very on and off, and we never reconnected that well. I just want to repair our relationship a bit more in case things go to crap, which by our chances will probably happen soon. I give it a day or two.

Besides that, I pretty much stayed with Mr. Big, until more recently where I got my own apartment. Mostly because I wanted to feel slightly more independant, and also slightly how wandering around Mr. Big's compound, in the middle of goddamn nowhere, can get quite boring. Mr. Big was okay with me leaving as he still offered to pay for my living expenses, which was actually really kind of him, still I can't help but feel that I'm leeching off him, but despite my protests he said, "it was his pleasure'" to pay for my apartment, so I bought a small apartment in the middle of Zootopia, it's quite barren, as I only have a few of my possessions with me. I can still tell though, that he wanted me to stay, and I could guess partly because he seems to enjoy my company, and on the other hand he would occasionally ask me to do one of his jobs for him, from, uh, collecting debts, to… 'removing' someone.

I'll let you fill in the blanks.

But on a happier note. With the time I had spent with Mr. Big I had actually made friends with Mr. Manchas and Mr. Otterton.

It actually makes me feel slightly bad how I'm not warning Mr. Otterton on what is going to happen with the Night Howlers, but sacrifices have to be made, as it is the only way I can think of, in which get Judy on the case.

Wow, that makes me feel like a villain.

Anyway I have some driving to do. In case you forgot, I have a meeting with Nick.

* * *

"Good evening fine sir," I hear Nick say sarcastically, as I walk up to the front doors of the casino, Nick waiting outside.

I quickly glance over him, surprised at how he is wearing something very nice. Every other time I have seen him recently he is wearing his casual hawaiian shirt with the tie and khaki shorts, or some variation of that. But here, instead, he is wearing a nice, neat, black jacket with a white undershirt covered with a tie, including black plants, giving him a composed overall appearance.

"Good evening, general jackass," I say in return with a simple wave of the hand.

"Ouch, tonight is supposed to be a night of joy, and you just have to go and ruin the moment."

"I'm sorry, let me try again," I fake cough twice before putting on a different voice, "It is just the most wonderful evening, and it is just the most wondrous thing to see you again. The stars are shining, it is a full moon, there's a nice breeze, I wouldn't have it any other way," I pause for just long enough to let him think I'm finished and just as he starts talking, I continue, "I've missed you my immaculate younger brother, the mere thought of not seeing you again had broke my heart, and shattered…"

"Thanks, I think you've made your point," he deadpans, his ears drooping in annoyance.

"Have I offended you? Oh the horrors I have committed, I would fight a thousand warriors in order to gain your forgiveness. I would travel through a thousand suns…"

"Wait! Did you hear that?" he says raising his hand to his ear causing me to pause and listen intently, "oh, it's just the beautiful sound of you not talking."

I drop my hands, and my ears droop as I stare at him, "Touche."

That was actually pretty good.

"So, you wanted to talk?" He says, our banter over.

"Well it has been a couple years since you left, and considering the fact that you haven't blown up half of Zootopia, I was concerned."

"Aaaaaaaaaaaand?" He says mockingly, waving his hand in a circle signaling for me to continue.

"And yes, I missed your company," I say crossing my arms.

"Ding ding ding, we've got a winner!"

"I feel so honored," I deadpanned.

"Glad to hear, now since you want to figure what I'm doing, I suppose the only way to get you to stop bothering me is to tell you."

"Pretty much."

"Oh, would you look at the time," he says looking at his wrist even though it is quite obvious he isn't wearing a watch, "it appears that I'm out of time. What a shame."

"God damn it Nick," I say now knowing if he is joking or actually trying to get out of this conversation.

"I'm just pulling your leg. Let's go on a walk while I tell you," he says starting to walk down the street.

I walk quickly, pulling up to his side and match his pace, he starts talking, "So you remember when we were kids how you taught me those card tricks?"

"mmmHmmm," I hum in confirmation.

"Well I was thinking, if it worked out so well with those kids, how much different would it be in the large scale."

I pause for a second and think. We are outside a casino, he is dressed to gamble inside, and he is talking about using card tricks to win games. It isn't that hard to connect two and two.

"So you are cheating the system?"

"Cheating implies that I am doing something illegal, I'm merely using my natural talent to increase my odds of winning. To them I'm merely your average casino goer."

"You aren't the first person to do that. You do realize they are watching for people who do that."

"Oh, I realise that. The difference between me and the other people that have tried this before, is that I don't get caught."

"That is what they all think before they get caught."

He turns around and starts walking backwards, facing me in the process. "Oh you hurt, have you no faith in my abilities," he says putting his hand over his heart, "see, they look for people who win, and they track them, it seems like the simplest and easiest way to track them. But that is their first mistake," he says raising a finger, "if your win is overshadowed by another, then surprise! Suddenly you are no longer as large as a suspect, and they generally don't have the mind to look past a simple trick like that. Their second mistake," he says raising another finger, "is that they always make assumptions," he puts on his mocking voice, "well I'm a security guard, and I'm going to watch the fox because it is OBVIOUS that he is going to be the one that is doing something that I don't like. But 'oh darn' he doesn't win, I guess there was nothing to worry about."

He puts back on his normal voice, "meanwhile your completely normal friend is winning, right, behind, their, back, and they aren't the wiser. Mistake numero three," he says raising a third finger, "is that the mere idea, of someone being so heartless as to do something like this, is so horrifying that no one would do it. And since it has been several years since someone has been caught, security is quite lax. See my point?"

"In theory yes. but..."

"Good, glad you see my view," he says stopping, "But would you look at that, we're back at The Grand Sahara Casino. You know what? I think I've left my friends waiting too long. I'll have to introduce them to you someday, You'll love them."

Ignoring the fact that he interrupted me I continue by saying, "Last you said, 'You'll love this' I nearly ended up in a hospital."

"Hey, how was I supposed to know that you are such a bad driver?"

"Hey, it was you that…"

And he's inside now.

I suppose that there is no reason to follow him inside. But one day I'll have to kick his smug ass to the moon and back.

Life goals, I've got em sorted out. Kick Nick's ass and chew bubblegum.

Too bad I'm out of bubblegum.

* * *

So I was thinking.

I enjoy science, and having been reincarnated I couldn't help but think about the multiverse theory.

If you don't know what that is I'll give it to you in layman's term. It is the idea that there is a different universe in which a different set of possibilities are true. In even simpler terms, a different universe where something else happened. Like an alternate timeline. I could go more in depth, but you can just Zoogle it… or Google it, or whatever search engine you use.

But my point is, the fact that I got reincarnated could in theory, depending on how you view this kind of reincarnation, could in theory, prove the multiverse theory.

If that is true, then this is something that will be written down in history.

But, I'm slightly concerned about something else. The universe I came from Zootopia was just a movie. The characters were just that. Characters, not actual people. Yet now they seem like actual people.

What is stopping this from being still just a story though, and me just a character?

And if the multiverse theory is true, then there is going to be a universe where I am just a character thought up by someone in front of a computer, or sheet of paper. And what's stopping it from being this universe.

So if this is true I have an author who is controlling my life, and whatever happens, happens because he wants it to. So, if there is someone who is writing this, in front of whatever the hell you use to write, I'll tell you one thing.

Piss off big nose.

Good, I wanted to get that out of my system. And now that, that is done with. Back to more important matters.

I look up from the menu, "Yes, I'll have the Pork Bulgogi," I say to the waitress. She nods and writes that down.

Of course it isn't actual Pork, it is a synthesized food, made completely out of plant materials, it just happens to share the name we have. And as you may have also guessed by what I ordered, some dishes also share a name from ones we had.

As I said, more important matters.

I give her the menu and say "Thank you," I say as she leaves.

Now, since I'm at a lack of things to do, and having completed my daily philosophical question. I go back to watching the TV across from me, to entertain me.

They have been rambling over stuff the entire day, nothing really that interesting, so at this point watching the TV is more of a distraction.

However apparently I picked the lucky time to watch TV.

Because, apparently the news channel, just got some breaking news.

I half pay attention to the TV and half pay attention to what's going on around me. Apparently, the first bunny cop ever has been introduced into the ZPD. Never thought I'd see the day, where something like this would happen. I can't help but feel like I'm forgetting something though.

…

Wait a second.

I wanted the Pork Bugalbi.

* * *

So I finished that embarrassing moment of memory loss. At least, on the bright side I did get the Pork Bugalbi.

Anyway, back to the point. So, yeah, Judy Hopps. The first bunny cop. Not that I've met her or anything, but that means that things should start kicking off soon.

That also means that she should be getting the Mr. Otterton case soon, if my little notebook I made of important plot points is correct (P.S. I made a little notebook full of plot points that I can remember a couple years ago for reference).

Eeeeeeeeeeeeexcept, there is one slight problem. And by slight, I mean a middle to large problem, probably leaning towards large.

Mr. Otterton is safe and sound. Perfectly fine. In fact I had visited his house only the night before to have dinner with his family.

To make extra sure, I actually called him nervously, just to make sure. He is safe and sound with his family. No signs of anything off, besides their oldest kid having a cold.

I'm not sure what would have been more stressful, him having gone savage, or him not going savage, because he was kinda one of my only stepping stones. It would have made it easier to get in touch with Judy Hopps, as my relationship with him would make me a target for information, meaning that I would probably have eventually gotten in touch with Judy.

So, now I can't really get in touch with her besides just finding her, and I doubt the police HQ would just give her information away, so my only chance of finding her are to track her down.

That is if she is even helping with the missing mammal case. What if she doesn't even become part of this. Then what?

I could in theory I could get by even if she never does anything to solve the missing mammal cases… but that just feels off. Imagine the movie where Judy Hopps was never a factor, doesn't sound right, does it?

So I somehow have to get her into this case.

And I can't really just go to the HQ and tell them to give her the case, and at the moment I don't really have any leads… except one, and I would rather not go to the ZPD unless I feel that I have enough proof.

So, if I remember correctly, Bellwether is getting her supplies from an underground abandoned boxcar in a derelict station.

I have no idea which derelict station, or where in each one, but there are only so many derelict stations in Zootopia. As most have been quickly renovated.

So that narrows it down to only a couple locations.

Should be pretty easy, right?

* * *

Nope. Apparently not.

I checked every single station, that is publically known. And even one beyond that, that most people don't know of. Either I'm missing something or the abandoned boxcar just isn't there.

I mean, I've spent easily one hour in each one wandering around, almost getting lost at one point, searching for the boxcar, and it just isn't there.

So here I am just driving around aimlessly trying to think of ideas.

It's a nice day, bright sun, sparse clouds, busy streets, general happiness everywhere. And I don't like it.

I'm trying to sulk here people, stop being so happy.

Let me tell you my thought process. I had checked everything and found nothing, that removes my one lead.

So I've got to think here. If I was a detective what would I do?

After a couple seconds of thinking I made a conclusion.

I have no idea.

And this is why I'm not a detective.

I suppose I could go back and look for any leads, but again I have no idea where to go, besides the couple of stations I know of.

I could in theory go to the ZPD with the information I have, but that is more likely to make me a suspect than anything else, not to mention how there have been some very controversial (in my eyes) means to keep Zootopia safe, which have worked, but I would rather not have the ZPD tracking everywhere I go, I feel that would severely limit my ability to solve this case.

This is a lot more stressful now that I have to deal with this.

Eh, I no longer have the energy to deal with this. I'm just going sleep this off.

* * *

"Another missing mammal case has been reported. This is the 3rd missing mammal case of this very week."

And this is where I tune out.

Another missing mammal. And still no clue about anything at all. I have no need to listen to the news anymore, it is going to be the exact same thing. Them taking two hours to explain how no progress has been made, and another two hours after going over all the conspiracy theories out there.

It's more frustrating than anything else, it's the exact feeling of being so close yet so far. I know who is doing it, but I just don't have any evidence to prove it.

So here I am slouching over a coffee table in a coffee shop with my tail swishing behind me angrily.

Makes me feel like a 5 year old pouting. Probably because I am one.

I violently take another sip of coffee.

Maybe I am stressing out on this slightly too much. Maybe I should just wait for something to happen that will give me another clue. After all even if things do take longer than usual, it isn't like Bellwether is a ticking time bomb, just a few more mammals would go savage if I delay, so at the moment I do have time to spare.

My phone buzzes, distracting me from my thoughts. I pull it out from my pocket and check to see who it is.

It's from Nick, 'My friends and I are playing Poker tonight. Wanna come?'

Well Nick, you might be a smug bastard, but you have perfect timing.

* * *

"He's bluffing, I'm telling you, he's bluffing," Jason says trying to get Nick to call my supposed bluff.

Let me quickly tell you who Jason is, Jason is generally the smarts of Nick's operation, if that is what you want call it. He's a goat, who apparently studied psychology in college, and somehow he ended up with Nick, I don't know how you mess up that bad. It'll probably make for an interesting story. However from what I've seen though, he is something akin to a genius.

Anyway, back to Poker!

"Am I?" I reply to the comment towards me with a fox like grin.

"He always replies with these kind of comments when he is bluffing. He's is definitely bluffing, just call his bluff already Nick."

Nick looks back at his cards and back to the chips on the table.

"Make a damn decision Nick. Don't make me kick yo ass," Finnick replies from the other side of the table.

Ah Finnick, He seems to be exactly like how I remember from the movie. Not sure if I'm glad about it though.

"Thanks Finnick, just what I needed," Nick replies still looking at his cards and back at the chips.

"Man, stop being such a wuss, it's only 75 damn chips."

"You do know that 75 chips is quite a bit, you might not want to do it Nick," I say, leaning to teasing him with a grin.

He sends a short glance saying, "You know what? I think I'll call your bluff," He says pushing the correct amount of chips into the center, "Show me what you got?"

"About, damn, time," Finnick says.

"Are you guys ready for this?" I say delaying me showing my cards, "This is going to be the most amazing thing you will ever see..."

I am interrupted from my delaying of showing my pair, when we hear police sirens faintly from the street outside the window.

"Aww, man, the po-po has found us!" Finnick says.

"We aren't doing anything illegal," I say walking over to the window and pulling the drapes to the side. Interested, as this might be a clue that might lead me to Bellwether.

After thinking for a second and hearing quiet shifting behind me, I turn to Nick from the drapes, "is there something you want to tell me that I should know?"

"This is a story for another time," Nick replies, trying to brush it off.

I glare at Nick, telling them with my eyes that I am going to figure out what happened later, even if that means I have to tie him to a chair.

Finishing my glare, I the look back out the window and into the deserted night time street, lit by a couple street lamps, waiting for said police.

I can hear Finnick telling to get away from the window, with a plethora of colorful words, but I ignore him as I continue staring outside. At the moment I can only hear some police cars, but in the distance I can see a helicopter flying by, shining a spotlight, heading perpendicular from the building I am in.

After a couple seconds two police cars speed by, not even bothering to stop here, as Finnick continues his tirade.

"Shut up Finnick, they aren't even stopping here," I say grabbing the remote from a nearby couch and turning on the TV.

I press a couple of buttons going to the ZNN news channel, as people start crowding around the couch I am leaning over, also interested at what I'm looking for.

At the moment they haven't seemed to report what is going on as they are just talking about the health care system. I sit down on the couch however waiting for it to change.

"They ain't even talking about the damn police," Finnick says walking around the couch.

"Shut up," I reply without thinking.

"This is stupid, we should just continue our damn game."

"I said shut up," I reply to Finnick, still subconsciously.

I can tell that he is preparing some retort, but he doesn't get to say it as the TV changes as a new reporter says, "Breaking news, we have a report of a panther in Moose's Square Garden breaking out into a violent rage. Police are on the way to the scene, trying to contain the person that 'went savage' as the officials have said. Could this possibly be related to the missing mammal cases we have heard so much about?"

That is actually slightly concerning as Bellwether and her goons did their first public targeting.

However, despite that disturbing thought I continue to watch the TV. They are showing the live video of a news helicopter following three police cars, supposedly traveling to the location. It's hard to make anything else out, besides the roads, as the street lights, and helicopter spotlight make anything else hard to see due to contrast. But as they near the location I can faintly see someone moving on top of a building.

Bingo.

I make a mental note where he was heading, and rush out of the apartment ignoring the cries of Nick asking what is going on.

I jump into my car and turn it on, and start flying down the road, pressing me into the seat uncomfortable in the process.

A couple of seconds on my trip I hear/feel my phone buzz in my pocket, and look over to the dashboard screen, where I have connected my phone to.

Nick is calling me.

I quickly press the 'accept' button, making sure to pay attention on the road.

"What the hell was that?" I hear Nick say, apparently dropping his cool facade.

"It's a long story, but I think I noticed something no one else did."

"Wow, that is so interesting! But if only I knew what the hell you mean when you say that."

"You don't have someone just go crazy and randomly attack people, like they said what happened on TV," I say tapping at the steering wheel impatiently as I wait for a red light to turn green, "I have a theory. I might jump around a lot so try to pay attention. First things first, there is a plant that most people call Night Howlers with a really complex scientific name. Anyway, most of the time they are used, they are used by farmers to ward away insects, however they are occasionally known to have psychotropic effects causing aggression and unrestrained violence. In theory, if concentrated and injected into the bloodstream, they could in theory make someone attack people randomly. The only problem is who is able to do this. And I think I saw someone in the news video on top of a rooftop, and I have a hunch that they are related to this."

I can hear him pace a bit as he seems to digest this, "Wow, you really are insane, aren't you?"

"I never said I wasn't, now if you aren't going to help, then I'm going to focus on what I'm doing," I say finishing the call and going back to focusing on driving, humming 'Ride of the Valkyries' to myself.

Now remembering what I saw on the News video, whoever was on top of the building should be on top of the building… right… here!

I quickly park, not caring about how neat it is, and rush to said building. It looks to be a three story restaurant, some moderately fancy restaurant, probably appealing to the middle class.

I jiggle the front door only to see that it is locked, crap.

What about the back door?

I rush around the building, being careful not to step on anything too sharp with my barefeet and check the back door. I jiggle it slightly and find that it is unlocked. Perfect. Even more evidence to support the idea that someone is here.

I sprint up the stairs, not caring about checking anything else, and find a ladder on the third floor, supposedly leading to the roof.

I climb onto the roof and am greeted by a cool night wind. I shield my face and glance around the rooftop. Nothing. Did I get the wrong building? Did they move? I mean, I did take a bit to get here, but from the News video I didn't think they were moving.

Did I just lose my one clue?

My tail droops between my legs, and my ears bend back as I realize that I just lost the one clue I had.

I can't believe it! I was so close! What do I do now? How can I just lose my one clue?

I'm lie down on the rooftop, on my back and stare into the night sky, trying to collect my mind. However my ear, shortly afterwards, twitches as it hears a sound. It… actually… sounds...like a car door closing.

Excuse me a second.

I, quite unceremoniously, scramble to the edge of the rooftop where I heard the noise just in time to see a car drive away.

Well, there they probably go. Great, so close again. And they got away. If only I knew where they were going.

…

Wait a second.

I pull out my phone and pull up the map app. Let's see, they were driving SW, and assuming that they aren't going to double back, their hideout should be somewhere in that side of Zootopia.

And despite the fact that their Night Howler Train doesn't seem to exist, it would have to be somewhere. It would be too much of a hassle to relocate everything inside there, so unless it wasn't there in the first place, I now have a general idea where exactly the Night Howler Train is.

This means I might have the clue I need to move forward. I also need to get off the roof so the police don't see me.

I need a shower to think this out.

* * *

Ok, be careful what you put in your shower. I had a little ceramic building thing that I thought would be pretty to have there, and well, now it is in a trashcan as I knocked it over and shattered it while I was mid shower.

Now due to the fact that my apartment smells like fox blood, I have a window open to hopefully, wash out the smell. Surprisingly, the smell of blood is not the most pleasant thing to have your room smell like. Now I just have to make sure it doesn't rain or else I am going to be totally screwed as I have my bed right next to the window. That actually isn't as much as a problem as it might seem to be, because since Zootopia is able to control the environments of many different ecosystems, right next to each other, controlling the rain is something very easy, so rain is generally preschedualed.

But still, I should really buy one of those window screens, it's better than hanging my mattress out of the window trying to get rid of rainwater soaked up in it. I don't exactly check the rain schedule every day.

Ignoring my adventures into ceramic skyscrapers, fox blood, and hypothetical rain, I have been thinking of the information I have.

I should really make one of those boards they have in the movies where you have several different pictures pinned on a board, with yarn wires interconnecting them with random gibberish written, that makes you seem like a psychopath. Don't you call those things suspect boards?

Either way, my suspect board is just my phone, with my notes and pictures app acting as my information storage.

Anyway, so what I know is that Bellwether is getting here Night Howler goop from an abandoned train car somewhere in South West Zootopia. The only problem is that I've checked every abandoned train station in the entirety of Zootopia, and I found nothing, nada, zippo.

I can't help but feel like I'm missing something. Meaning, if I am going to get somewhere, I'm going to need help with this. Preferably someone who has taken courses in criminal activity, and could provide the little bit of insight I haven't gotten.

See where I am going.

In case you don't know where I'm going with this, I have to get in touch with Judy Hopps.

* * *

 **This chapter seemed to be way too fast paced, but I'll try to slow things down next chapter. Also the reason this chapter took slightly longer than it normally would have is how I was trying to get it perfect, but eventually I decided to just post it and forgo any problems it may have, so sorry if this one is worse.**

 **There weren't really any reviews to respond to, so I won't have any for this chapter. (Sorry if you wanted me to respond to your review and I didn't.)**

 **Question: This can be slightly complicated to think about. First create an imaginary city, make it however you want it to be. Now imagine that you are inside your imaginary city, and not only are you in it, but you are famous inside it. Here is the question, what is your city like, and why are you famous in said city? Are you well known for overthrowing a tyrannical government in a futuristic dystopian city? Are you a famous actor in the city you live in? Are you a villain that brought a gleaming utopia to its knees? This is left to your imagination.**


	7. Asking For New Friends

**AN:**

 **Yes, I'm Alive**

 **No, this story is not dead.**

* * *

So how exactly do you find Judy Hopps.

It feels like trying to catch a legendary pokemon.

Not that I ever did, bad analogy. But as I said some point before, I doubt they will just tell me where she is. I would think they would err on caution, especially when a fox walks in asking where he can find the newest police officer, who is a bunny, with no reason or explanation.

Zootopia isn't the kind of city in which you would have people hunting police officers because of racial differences, but then again, one thing the ZPD is known for is how careful it is, which doesn't seem to make much sense considering half of the police officers I've seen are too busy butting heads to think straight, or are sleeping on the job.

Still, I will need to find her on my own.

And you know what that means? Cue time skip.

*Epic screen fade with badly edited whooshing sounds.*

* * *

Ok, so I have a plan.

Not the most sound one, but I think it will work. Let me go over it quickly, because I don't really have much to do at the moment.

With the little information I was able to pull up, I know that Judy Hopps is in Precinct 1. Which in certain situations can cover half of Zootopia, which is still huge, even an eighth of Zootopia would be extremely difficult. Not very helpful, but in thinking about that I found something out!

While it does cover half of Zootopia, generally a lot of the focus is oriented near the center, or downtown part of Zootopia. The reason is, that is where everything important is, Town Hall, Police HQ, National History Museum, and many major businesses, while they do cover everything else, those locations take top priority.

Why does that help?

Well I'm glad you asked.

Because not only would that encourage Judy to stay around that location, but since so much business is going on around that location, and if my little notebook of fortune telling is correct, then since Judy is a parking maid, then she would acclimate to those locations, due to how you are more likely to have people who are past their time for parking.

That still leaves quite a wide area for searching as Zootopia is a large city, not to mention that she is moving, so for all I know I could just be running around in circles, and that would only start a game of Cat and Mouse… or Fox and Bunny.

...

Let's move on.

I couldn't find the exact time when Judy starts work, but I can assume that, like every other job, it starts sometime in the early morning, and due to the laws of logic, she is most likely going to start at closer locations and work her way out, so if I am to wait in the morning it could shorten my range of search.

But being the person I am, I needed more information.

While the ZPD is not willing to give out information on when the work days start and end, surrounding businesses are. And, the ones that start earlier are more likely to have people stay past their allotted time, due to his they got their earlier. It's pretty simple. So I gathered the starting time of all surrounding businesses I could, and compared them all together, to get an idea of where she is going to start.

So now I am going to sleep off this massive headache I got from an entire day of planning, and try my plan, tomorrow morning.

* * *

So it didn't really work. Not that surprised actually.

Still it is only day one, and I can use the stuff I learnt to help me on day two, and if that doesn't work I can use the stuff I learnt on day one and two to help me on day three. And so on, and so on, until this either works of my brain breaks.

But something else happened, nothing that bad nor anything life changing. In fact it's more of an existential crisis than anything else. It's just something I couldn't get off of my mind.

As I was sitting there watching animals go about their daily lives, I couldn't help but wonder where I fit in all of this.

I won't lie when I say that Zootopia is different from any Human City, for obvious reason, how everyone is animals, the accommodation for different sizes, the obvious lack of meat (Damn Them All To Hell). But in another way, it is surprisingly similar, segregation, similar architecture, similar social structure, and all of that.

So in some ways it's different, but in other ways it is similar. It might sound weird, but thinking about it, it is something that worries me. It's the kind of thing, which once you are experiencing it's almost terrifying.

Am I a human, in a world without any humans, trying to retain what keeps me human, an outcast for the society I am in. Or am I a fox, one that fits into society, that has given up their previous life as a human. A fox that has lived a life before this, but none the less is adapted to this life.

It might sound kinda stupid thinking about this, but for me, it is something that is worrying, because for so long I thought myself as a human that is just masquerading as a fox, but is that actually true? For so long it felt like I was peering through a window and controlling a body that isn't mine, but that wasn't as true as much as it was just be thinking it was.

You know what? I'll stop rambling.

* * *

Oh god, I see her. I don't know why, but this is a lot more stressful than I thought it would be. It's a lot like that girl from highschool you always wanted to talk to, but you could never get the guts to.

It's probably because about 29ish years of my life have been depending on the outcome of this one moment. It's probably also associated with the fact that I got almost 0 sleep last night.

But I can worry about life changing events later, I just need to stay calm, don't mess this up, like how you did it with that girl from highschool. Confidence is the key. I just need to become her friend, so I can eventually bring her into what is going on, so she can help me. It might take a bit of time, but from what I can tell, I think it is going to be worth it.

Let's go. I need to stop delaying.

After spending an unnecessary minute of preparing myself, I walk up behind her as she is putting a parking ticket on a car. It takes a couple of pregnant seconds for me to do something, as once I gain my bearings I put one of my hands in my pocket and wave with the other saying, "Hello."

And well… she… well… she replies by screaming, jumping a good 4 feet in the air, flipping around, holding one hand out to keep me at a distance, and holding her other hand on her tazer.

Now naturally being the completely calm and collected person I am, I totally didn't jump back also in fear since I wasn't expecting her scream.

It takes her a couple of awkward seconds to realize she wasn't in any danger before she replies slightly apprehensively, "Sorry, you scared me there." Straightening herself afterwards.

I stand a bit straighter up. "It's fine, Compared to the reactions I've gotten that was calm," I pause for a second, "So you must be Judy Hopps so I've heard so much about on the news," I reply putting my hands back in my pocket.

If she didn't have fur covering her face I she would be blushing as she replies, "Well thanks. As you seem to already know I'm Judy Hopps ZPD, pleasure to meet you," she finishes holding her hand out for me to shake.

"Elijah Wilde, and the pleasure is mine," I say shaking her hand, "But. I've noticed one, single, little, thing that is just bugging me, that I have to ask you. The great Judy Hopps, first bunny cop, current face of the Mammal Inclusion Program, is a meter maid?"

Her ears flop down but her face remains the same as she says, "Yeah, I mean, it wasn't what I was expecting, but I like it to view it as a step to becoming a real cop."

I look at her slightly skeptical as I say, "So you hand people parking tickets when they are," I look at the parking ticket, "3 minutes overdue?"

She straightens up slightly as she says, "As an officer of Zootopia I have to uphold the law in anyways possible, and that means that I have to work at the highest extent, in order to keep Zootopia safe and to make the world a brighter place."

I stare at her bored. While saying, half yawning, "That sounded rehearsed."

She sputters slightly, "Ah... uh... That isn't the point!"

"Well, that's what I got from it," I say looking at her smugly.

"Well!" she says defiantly, "I'm on duty, so I have to go back to work, so I have to go."

"You're just changing the topic."

"No, I'm not!"

"Well I'm sure you could spare a couple of minutes in order to explain, to this old fox, your thoughts on giving someone a parking ticket when they are 3 minutes overdue."

She grumbles for a couple of seconds before saying, "You know what? Fine! if it makes you happy, I changed the topic. But I'm actually am on duty and Chief Bogo will be all over me if he finds out I haven't been doing my job."

"And how exactly will he find out?"

"I don't know, he just does. Still, I have to prove that I can be a real cop, and that means no slacking off!"

"Y'know what? Just think of our conversation as you getting information from a key witness."

"And what exactly did you witness?"

"Judy Hopps slacking off on her job," I say deadpanning.

"Oh, my, god! You're the reason I'm not doing my job!"

"Exactly, so that makes me a witness."

"Well fine! I'm going back to my job, and that means I can't talk to you anymore! Hah!"

"Okay then. Have fun," I say turning around, walking off, waving a hand over my shoulder.

"Uhhhh, wait! I was just joking, sorry," she says as I turn around, "Uh, it's actually been very fun talking to you, uh, so can I get your phone number?"

 **(AN: Imagine them exchanging phone numbers. I don't want to put down two phone numbers.)**

 **(30 Second Time Skip)**

I shove my phone back in my pocket, having just finished writing down her phone number.

"Well officer, I think it is about time you get back to your job, you've spent too much time slacking. And I'll take my leave," I say bowing jokingly.

I start walking off really smug with myself before I turn around, and seeing that Judy is watching me go off I put my hand to my face making a phone with my hand mouthing, 'call me'.

I grin as I hear her scream of frustration.

* * *

So I would say that my first meeting with Judy Hopps was a huge success. I didn't really have much of a plan besides just talking to her and acting friendly, and that seemed to work quite well. Although she was very apprehensive of me, most likely because I'm a fox. But then again, everyone looks at me apprehensively because I'm a fox, so not much change there.

But then again it was a success so I spent the rest of my day pretty much celebrating, by eating microwavable pizza by myself.

And considering how little I eat, that is like a goddamn holiday.

Still I need to get Nick on in this, and I don't really have a plan for that. My plan is more waiting for the opportunity. And after spending a good day planning on how to find Judy I'm more than ready to just rest for a while.

Anyways, ignoring my lack of will to plan how to get Nick into this shindig, I'm on my way to Judy's house. She had contacted me saying how she wanted to talk to me. She didn't really give me a reason, but I can only assume that it is due to the hate she seemed to get from the people whom she gave parking tickets who.

And considering I want to get on her good side I decided to come.

There is also that part about being a good friend and stuff, but I'll worry about it later.

So here I am walking up the stairs to Judy's apartment.

Putting a pause on what's going on, honestly I think I'm going to die here. It's night time, there's a light drizzle, absolutely no one is outside at the moment, I'm in an abandoned staircase where each step echoes strongly, and it is all complete with a flickering light.

How Judy survives this I don't know.

Luckily for me, this life threatening situation was quickly ended as I reached the floor in which Judy's apartment was.

I walk down the hallway with my hands in my pockets and knock on the door, hoping that she didn't give me the wrong room number.

The door opens, and Judy greets me with a, "Hey, thanks for coming! Uh, welcome to my apartment," she finishes my gesturing to her room.

To say that it was pathetic, well, it would be correct, she has a bed, with a chest in front of it, a refrigerator, with a microwave sitting on top,a nightstand right next to the door, and a table with a lamp, notepad, and phone sitting on top of it, all in a room that is pathetically small.

"Looks… lively," I say cringing slightly.

"Yeah well, I know it's not much, but still I love it. I like to think that it is the full Zootopia experience, creaky floorboards, spider webs, and loud neighbors."

As if just on cue I hear yelling followed by something hitting the wall next to Judy's bed.

"Well," I say giving the wall a good long look, "it's not exactly the best conditions for living, but… it isn't all that bad."

"Thanks, so, make yourself at home!" She said clasping her hands together.

I sit down on her bed testing the bounciness. I look back at Judy and say, "So you wanted to talk to me?"

"Oh yeah!" She sits down on a chair "So, this may sound a bit weird, but something has just been bugging me all day, ever since I have talked to you. Have you ever, by chance, gone to Bunny Burrows?" She says.

I pause for a second.

Could she possibly remember when I when I went there all the years back? I mean, if she does, it's not the worst thing, it's just… surprising.

"No offence, but may I ask why?" I say prying into her motives.

"Well! I guess I should explain this to you, so you can understand this easier. When I was quite young, I always wanted to become a cop."

"You seemed to accomplish that."

"Yeah, and about that. One day, out of nowhere, this completely random fox had come to visit with his little brother. Even though my parents have told me over and over and over again to not go near foxes, I couldn't help but want to talk to him."

So, she does remember.

"I can't remember much about him, I forgot his name, his brother's name, where he came from, and all that. The only thing I remember is him giving me a speech telling me to follow my dreams despite what others will tell me. And, I don't know why, but those words never left me," she looks down, a bit more emotional, "So whenever I had doubts about becoming a police officer, I just always remembered what he said, and it inspired me. I honestly think, that the only reason I'm a police officer, is because of what he told me."

Uh, ok. So, she's wrong there, obviously. She would've became a police officer without my help. But still, I never realized that I had that much of an impact on her.

I listen more intently as she continues talking, "I know that this probably sounds like gibberish to you, but when I started talking to you, I couldn't help but think about that fox that helped me achieve my dreams. Sorry about my rambling, I just had to tell somebody."

And emotional speech over.

I take a good second to look at my hands thinking about how to respond.

"Let me tell you a story," I say.

She perks up, and I can already tell that she has sneaking suspicions that I know what she is talking about.

"I never lived with a rich family. My dad ran away when I was about 5, and my mom had to work her ass off just to earn enough money to survive. So when one day she said that we were going on a road trip, which we had never done before mind you, I still to this day don't know why I said I wanted to go to Bunny Burrows out of all the other places possible."

I give some time for her to absorb that, and once she looks up at me in surprise, probably starting to connect the dots I continue.

"I honestly didn't even think we would actually do it, but we did. So we went on the hour and a half long drive, in a cramped car, all the way to Bunny Burrows. And the exact minute when I got out of the car someone had come up to talk to me. Of course back then, my little brother was quite shy, so I talked for us. Said person who came to talk to us, was named Judy Hopps."

I pause again, and when her face lights up I continue the story.

"I could tell from the instant I met her that she was not like other bunnies. I mean, really, a bunny who would want to talk to a fox, ludicrous! So at the same time, I wasn't all that surprised when she said she wanted to be the first bunny cop. So while I could shut down her dreams, or tell her to just leave us alone, I didn't. I told her to follow her dreams despite what others will her. Of course I didn't get to know her that well, and it was only today in which I finally remembered her name." (Of course that isn't true), "So in the end, I unwittingly," (Again not true), "helped the first bunny cop achieve her dreams."

Her face widens to levels I thought weren't even possible.

"It's a small world after all," I say with a smirk.

I'm not really able to do any thing else, as I have 60 pounds of bunny running into me and tackling me into a hug.

Considering my experience with this kind of situation in the past, I don't really know what to do, besides just sitting here awkwardly and returning the hug for a couple of seconds.

After what feels to be an eternity for me she finally backs off and stand there kinda bouncy for a couple of seconds. "Sorry about that, heh," she says, "I just always wanted to thank you, and I never really got the chance to. So, uh, thanks so much. You really did a lot for me."

"I think you're just exaggerating slightly."

"Noooo, your words really stuck with me, and I don't think you know how much they inspired me."

"I don't necessarily agree. But thanks, however I do think that you would have done it regardless."

"Thanks, I guess," she says rubbing the back of her neck.

There are a couple of pregnant seconds in which we just look around aimlessly, desperately trying not to make eye contact.

"So, how was your day," Judy finally says breaking the ice.

"Good, I guess. Not much happened really besides meeting you," I say waving my hand, "What were you doing when I arrived?"

"Oh yeah! I was making dinner!" She says running over to her microwave, opening up the door and pulling out a package inside.

I stand up and walk over to the table, where she pulls off the plastic covering, revealing a ridiculously small, shriveled up carrot sitting in the middle.

"That is comically depressing," I say my eyes not leaving the carrot.

After staring at that for a good second I say, "Here, we're going to the nearest grocery store to buy you some actual food," I finish grabbing my car keys from my pocket.

"No, it's fine, you don't have to do this, I'm completely fine eating this. I've eaten it before."

I stare at her blankly, "Look at it, it looks like the carrot died and someone packaged it calling it food. I'm willing to bet it has the nutrition of a styrofoam board," I look at her and seeing her remaining reluctance I say, "For god's sake, I'm not going to argue with you all night. I'm taking you to buy some actual food, whether you like it or not."

"You're not going to let me win this are you?" She asks.

"Not. At. All."

She chews her lip a bit. "Okay let's go. But you didn't have to do this."

"There are many things I don't have to do. But I do them anyway."

* * *

 **I was originally have this chapter be a lot longer but I decided to just get this out to tell you guys how I'm alive.**

 **Yeah, it's been awhile since my last update, and I would like to apologize for that. First it started with finals, and directly afterwards I went on a vacation without my laptop, so I couldn't really write nor upload. There's not much more to say about it, but again I apologize for the delay. On the bright side, I had a lot of time to think about where I want this story to go.**

 **Anyway we have just reached 100 followers! And wow, I definitely did not expect this to become this popular when I first started it. I won't lie when I say that part of the reason I am writing this little thank you note, is because it is expected of authors, but part of me is still really grateful that so many people are following this story. Anyways, I'm just going to leave it with that as I don't want to take up too much word count. Have a nice day!**

 **Responding to Reviews:**

 **A Dutch Marine: I won't say that much, but yes I am planning to have that happen.**

 **(There weren't that many questions)**

 **While there weren't that many questions, I noticed I got a few reviews talking about how Elijah told Nick about what Night Howlers are. When I originally created Elijah as a character I created him as some person who would want to change things, as while I could have him just sit there and watch the plot play out I would think that would be boring to both write and read.**

 **Side Note: The next few chapters are going to be more bonding things, with the night howlers sprinkled in.**

 **Also I have a poll on my profile asking whether or not I should create another story, I would really appreciate it if you were to spend some of your time to help me make this decision.**

 **Since the question from last chapter was a bit too complicated from what it seems, I am going to simplify it, and kinda expand on the question from Chapter 5: If you were in a story, would you rather be the hero, antihero, or villain. (Of course you do have more than that like the sidekick/deuteragonist, mentor, or something like that, and if you want to be one of those, feel free to say so.)**

 **Sorry for this AN length.**


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